 As social media usage rises, so too does pressure to provide guidance to users To browse other articles on a range of HSL topics, see the wiki index.
Introduction
See also Social media landscape and Web 2.0 policy documents & strategies in higher education
"...Technologically savvy physicians, students and other health providers, including readers of iMedicalApps.com, are likely to be involved in social media. But many of us who may be new to social media may have no idea of what the rules of engagement are on the internet, and may not fully realize that posting on the internet is more public than hospital elevator chatter...."
Social media is disrupting so much of how we communicate in the digital era. At a time when mobile devices and smartphone technologies are everywhere, social media is being used in ways that change our information practices and behaviours. No where is this more apparent than in health care. In the past, it was common to wait weeks to speak to someone about a medical issue whereas patients now go to the social web to ask for assistance. Further, whereas in the past hospitals and physicians sent out press releases when announcing something new – now, they push information out via Twitter (the 24/7 “Here-we-are” banner of global conversation). As more health organizations aim to draft policies to guide health workers through this new world, more discussions will be needed about respecting boundaries that are breaking down because of social media. One of the concomitant challenges in this era is how to create a useful, helpful social media policy for a model world without scaring people away or being overly restrictive.
Health and medical social media policies
See also Social media policy database
Review article
- This article reviews the social media presence of medical schools, and identifies whether student policies explicit address social media usage
- 132 accredited US medical school websites were evaluated by two investigators (March 2010) on Facebook and Twitter
- All (100% n=132) of the medical schools had some presence; 95.45% (126/132) had Facebook; 25.76% (34/132) had official medical school pages, 71.21% (94/132) had student groups, and 54.55% (72/132) had alumni groups on Facebook. 10.6% of medical schools (14/132) had Twitter accounts.
- 128 of 132 medical schools (96.97%) had student guidelines or policies publicly available; 13 schools (10.16%) had guidelines or policies that mention social media; 38.46% (5/13) of the guidelines included statements defining what is inappropriate or impermissible or discouraged online certain behaviors; 53.85% (7/13) encouraged thoughtful and responsible social media use.
- most US medical schools have a Facebook presence yet do not have policies to guide student social networking behaviours
- as usage of these tools rises, policies that inform conduct in medical schools must be considered; established policies at medical schools can provide a blueprint for others
University resources
Australian government
Archives, libraries and museums
Hospitals
US Military
US State resources
Private sector
Government best practices
United Kingdom
Best Practices Toolkit
Checklists to help employees and agencies learn appropriate and transparent ways to interact with and on social media
References
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