Should health care professionals stay off social media?

Social media is an important part of everyday life for most Americans. A 2016 study by Mediakix found that the average American will spend over 5 years on social media throughout their lifetime (Mediakix, 2016). The average time spent on the most popular social media platforms is depicted in Figure 1 (Mediakix, 2016). A survey on over 600 social media users showed that 86% use social media at least once per day, and 72% use it multiple times per day (Herhold, 2018). Social media presents a variety of opportunities and risks for health care professionals. In this post, I will introduce some of the potential risks and benefits, as well as considerations when posting on social media.

Figure 1. The average time spent on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram over a person’s lifetime (Mediakix, 2016).

Potential dangers of social media include the sharing of poor quality or anecdotal information, breaches of patient privacy, damage to professional image, discipline from licensing boards and legal action if unprofessional content is shared (Ventola, 2014). When sharing content on social media, nothing is ever truly private, and it can never be fully erased. These dangers and potential consequences may cause health care professionals to avoid using social media altogether.

This, however, would be a shame. Social media provides an opportunity for experts to share high quality information quickly and effectively at a time when this is desperately needed. We need health care professionals to combat misinformation in the medical field, just like we need environmental scientists to combat misinformation on global warming. To discourage these experts from joining the conversation, even when the subject is controversial, would be a mistake. A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute (2012) reveled that one-third of American adults use social media for health-related discussions. I believe that health care professionals should be a part of these conversations. Additionally, I believe humanizing health care professionals, specifically physicians, has several positive effects. Health care professionals are increasingly present and popular on social media sites such as YouTube (Dr. Mike, Mama Doctor Jones, Kristina Braly). These are examples of physicians curating short videos in an easily digestible and entertaining manner, spreading health care advise, and combating misinformation to the general public. The video below introduces Dr. Mike’s content on YouTube. Other positive uses for social media in health care include professional networking, education, organizational promotion such as fundraising events and patient resources, and facilitating public health programs (Ventola, 2014).

A recent publication in the Journal of Vascular Surgery, which has since been retracted, titled, “Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons” made headline news (Shapiro, 2020). The authors of the article sought to evaluate the extent of unprofessional social media content among vascular surgery residents and fellows (Hardouin et al., 2020). The authors created fake Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and reviewed publicly available content on recent graduates (Hardouin et al., 2020). Clearly unprofessional content was defined as patient privacy breaches, intoxicated appearance, unlawful behaviour, illegal drugs and offensive comments towards colleagues, workplaces or patients (Hardouin et al., 2020). Potentially unprofessional content was defined as holding alcohol, inappropriate attire, and controversial political, religious or social topics (Hardouin et al., 2020). The article quickly received harsh feedback from the medical community, for gender bias in the review committee (all males reviewers) as well as their definition of potentially unprofessional content (Shapiro, 2020). The hashtag #MedBikini went viral, with male and female physicians posting photos of themselves in bikinis or other casual attire (Shapiro, 2020). The message was that physicians are humans first; they can go to the beach and have a drink and should not feel that they are being unprofessional if this is on social media. Additionally, physicians are taught to be leaders in their community. They should speak up on controversial social topics related to health care. This article, and the response to this article, resulted in healthy discussions about appropriate and professional use of social media for physicians, but it can also be applied to other health care professionals.

Before posting on social media, health care professionals should reflect on their aims and values when sharing information. Personally, I strive to share high-quality information on any given topic. This requires doing my own research before speaking out on a topic and sharing peer-reviewed content rather than anecdotes. While personal stories and anecdotes are relatable, they should be paired with supporting evidence and avoid making sweeping statements. As a professional, I value integrity and open-mindedness. I believe there are always opportunities to learn, and new perspectives to gain. I value the ability to observe, as well as to speak up when value can be added to a topic or conversation.

References

Hardouin, S., Cheng, T. W., Mitchell, E. L., Raulli, S. J., Jones, D. W., Siracuse, J. J., & Farber, A. (2020). RETRACTED: Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons. Journal of Vascular Surgery, 72(2), 667–671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2019.10.069

Herhold, K. (2018). How People Use Social Media in 2018. The Manifest. https://themanifest.com/social-media/how-people-use-social-media-2018

Mediakix. (2016). How Much Time Do We Spend On Social Media? https://mediakix.com/blog/how-much-time-is-spent-on-social-media-lifetime/

Pricewaterhouse Cooper Health Research Institute. (2012). Social media “likes” healthcare From marketing to social business. Pricewaterhouse Cooper. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/publications/pdf/health-care-social-media-report.pdf

Shapiro, N. (2020). Viral #MedBikini Response To Controversial Manuscript Leads Editor To Retract Article. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2020/07/25/viral-medbikini-response-to-controversial-manuscript-leads-editor-to-retract-article/?sh=5d35e3071f47

Ventola, C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. P & T : A Peer-Reviewed Journal for Formulary Management, 39(7), 491–520. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103576/

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