Introduction to social media for healthcare professionals
What is social media?
Social media is any website or app that allows you to create, share content, and interact with others. While you might instantly think of platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok, social media also includes tools you might not immediately consider, such as WhatsApp, online forums, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
The impact of social media is undeniable. In the UK alone, over 56.2 million people are active on social media, with a penetration rate of around 78%. That’s 16% higher than the global average! On average, people spend more than two hours daily on these platforms, making social media a powerful tool for connection and communication.( Data from statista )
Video content
Hi, and welcome to the first of our 4 mini presentations in which we aim to teach you about the risks and benefits of using social media as a healthcare professional. In this first session, I will be discussing with you what social media is and what are the benefits associated with it.
We hope that these 4 learning sessions will meet these 4 learning objectives. To ensure that you understand how to use social media as a healthcare professional, that you understand the risks and benefits that social media poses as a healthcare professional, that you become familiarised with the latest updates to the HCPC standards regarding the use of social media, and that you can develop an action plan for how you personally might use social media in your job/role.
So, what actually is social media? Well, social media can be defined as any website or application that allows you to create and share content with other users. It includes the obvious ones we all use such as Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and TikTok but it also includes some you may not consider such as Whatsapp, online forums such as Reddit, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Social media is one of the best ways to reach a large and diverse audience with recent surveys finding that in the UK there are over 56 million people who are active social media users, which is quite high compared to other countries, 16% higher than the global average. What’s more interesting as well is the average daily use of social media, is 151 minutes which is over 2 hours.
Social media does have lots of benefits in everyday use, such as keeping people connected allowing for the easy communication of ideas across long distances. And it also has lots of uses and use cases for healthcare professionals as well.
Here is a word cloud representing some of the uses of social media for healthcare professionals. The one that springs to mind for a lot of people, including myself, is networking and how we use social media to make connections with other people working in our field and other professionals. It allows us to communicate science and to keep up to date with the latest innovations and discoveries and the latest research. And it also allows you to promote yourself and promote any research you yourself can carry out.
Social media is also a really good way of keeping up to date with conference opportunities and any other continued professional development opportunities that may be around in the field. You may learn about webinars or workshops you can undertake. You may also find educational videos on sites such as YouTube, or, they’re also really good to revise if you have content you need to revise or need to brush up on any laboratory techniques.
The presence of healthcare professionals on social media can also be useful for patients as well, educating them on how the service is there to help them. It can also be used to promote individual services or trusts and build confidence and build relationships with departments. The departmental presence of social media can also be useful for recruitment as well, raising the profile of a hospital or a trust encouraging people to join a particular team.
Social media offers incredible opportunities for networking. By connecting with others in your field, you can stay up-to-date with the latest innovations and research. It’s also a great platform for sharing your own work and findings with a broader audience.
Professional development
Social media can also support your ongoing learning and professional development. Many professionals use these platforms to discover webinars, workshops, and educational content, like instructional videos on YouTube, which can help you enhance your skills and knowledge.
Educating patients and promoting services
For patients and service users, social media can be an invaluable resource. Healthcare professionals can use these platforms to educate the public, promote services, and build trust in healthcare teams or departments. Additionally, a strong online presence can help with recruitment, attracting new talent to your team.
However there are dangers to be aware of when using social media, especially in a professional capacity. In the next lesson, we will explore the importance of using social media responsibly and the key points to consider when engaging with these platforms.