Social Media for GPs

Dr M S Krishnan

Awareness & Training

Survey 2011

88% medical students and 80% of Foundation doctors have noticed colleague acting ‘unprofessionally’ on Facebook.

50% of foundation doctors, 26% medical students and NONE of the senior staff grades were aware of existence of guidelines

Conclusion

Need wider education

Lets Get to the Nitti Gritty

GMC

Royal Colleges

GMC Good Medical Practice

Benefits

Opinions

Discussions

Chat sessions

Crowd sourcing

Developing networks

Community activities

Sharing information

What you need to consider

Contextual features – your environment, including your home and working conditions, community, culture, laws and regulatory frameworks

Attitudinal features – your capabilities, values, feelings and personal ethics

Scientific features – your critical, evidence-based approach and your commitment to lifelong learning and to quality improvement.

Things to consider

Your Image, professional stature

Personal Vs Professional

Maintain respect, dignity and compassion

Show your human side

Be mindful others are watching you

Engage with public but be cautious to give specific personal advice

Contribute your expertise, share your knowledge and of all have FUN!!!

My Experience

Old Age Psychiatry conference

#icanpreventDELIRIUM

Who is on social media?

Times are changing!

Group 2007 2015

Proportion of UK internet users with a social

media profile

30% 81%

Proportion of 35-44 year olds with social

media profile

12% 80%

Proportion of 55-64 year olds with social

media profile

5% 50%

Social media – why not?

Please talk to the person next to you for a couple of minutes and discuss

1.why you’re here in this session – and

2.what’s stopped you using social media in your professional life up to now.

Why not – typical reasons

1. Don’t have the time

2. Don’t know where to start

3. Don’t have the confidence

4. Don’t see the benefits

5. Do see the risks

Why use twitter for work purposes?

1. Be first to hear news and views

2. Join the debate about issues you care about

3. Share with peers: what works, new breakthroughs, useful data, a useful event or publication

4. Learn from peers: all of the above

5. It’s quick, easy and convenient when you get the hang of it

An introduction to twitter

About twitter

Twitter has millions of accounts which belong to people, groups and organisations.

Twitter lets you

Follow the accounts of people/groups/organisations you are interested in.

In terms of engaging with others, you can

Respond to a tweet with a direct message

Respond to a tweet with your own question, comment or point of view

Re-tweet a comment

‘Like’ a comment

Set up a twitter account

Step 1: Get a twitter handle

Ideally make it should be short, memorable, identifiable

Avoid making it long, bland

Examples:

@wesselys

@drkatelovett

@dradrianjames

Set up a twitter account

Step 2: find a photo of yourself

If using twitter for professional reasons,

choose this wisely!

Set up a twitter account

Step 3: create a ‘bio’ – a little bit about

you

You’ve set up a profile – let’s follow some

people! Tips

1.Some obvious places to start: @wendyburn, @wesselys, @drkatelovett

2.Your college: eg @RCGP

3.Orgs relating to your faculty: eg @dementiauk, @Age_Int

4.Others eg @rcpsych, @thelancet

5.Check out who’s following these Twitter profiles – they’re likely to be relevant to you (see next slide!)

6.If you’re not sure about following someone – don’t be shy! It’s not a major commitment, + if you follow lots of potential twitter users, you’ll get followed back.

You’re following people, some are

following you back…

Let’s talk about

Listening

Tweeting and re-tweeting

Managing your twitter feed

The people you’re following are tweeting hundreds of tweets per hour – how are you supposed to keep up?

You can’t read everything. But by dipping in and out you’ll find a way which works for you.

You can also

look at all tweets relating to a subject (using search)

see what’s ‘trending’, or

group your followers into ‘Lists’ based on their content.

Five top tips for all social media posts

1. Common sense: social media helps us work openly and connect – just remember to apply common sense.

2. Apply the same standards online as offline, whether acting in an official or personal capacity.

3. If in doubt, don’t post it.

4. Accuracy: check the accuracy and sensitivity of what you’re posting before submitting.

5. Permanent: remember once posted, it’s difficult to remove it.

Words of caution when responding

It pays to listen first and learn the rules of a social media space before engaging

Understand when a conversation should be taken offline

Do not engage with users who are aggressive or abusive

If you don’t know the answer to a question you’re asked, say so

If you have to think twice about posting, don’t. And always read your answers back

Never post in anger

Re-tweeting: why, and when?

You endorse the point of view

You want to share the tweet because it will help others (eg ‘New data says x’)

You want to help others to publicise their cause (Eg We’re raising £ for dementia sufferers)

You have something to add

Explaining # and @

# is used to create a space for a conversation

Eg #rcpsychIC is the # we use before and

during the Royal College’s International

Congress.

Users can click on or search for #rcpsychIC

to see all the comments everyone is making

about Congress.

Explaining # and @

Twitter users’ handles begin with @.

If you start a tweet with the handle, it doesn’t appear on other people’s feeds, eg @rcpsych please promote our conference.

If you include a handle later in the tweet it will appear in feeds, and draws attention to that person/org.

eg Great event #rcpsychIC thanks so much @rcpsych.

Twitter chats

This is when group of Twitter users meet at a set time to discuss a certain topic, using a designated # for each tweet.

A host typically poses questions and attendees provide their views.

Sometimes you may have a panel or individual and invite the audience to ask them questions.

How are you doing?

You can check on the amount of

engagement and activity on your twitter

profile via https://analytics.twitter.com

Let’s review

Don’t know where to start: set up a profile, go at your own pace

Don’t have the time: it doesn’t have to be a massive commitment

Don’t have the confidence: follow the advice.. Set up a profile and just watch until you build up confidence

Don’t see the benefits: Sharing, learning, contributing a voice

Do see the risks: There are things you can do to reduce any risks

Resources

GMC

RCGP

Thank You

@psychinformatic

Further reading

https://blog.bufferapp.com/twitter-tips-for-beginners

http://www.socialmediamakessense.co.uk/use-linkedin-

beginners/

https://blog.bufferapp.com/snapchat

Some added security Advice on securing your Twitter account:

https://myshadow.org/how-secure-your-twitter-account

Review your Twitter security settings.

https://twitter.com/settings/security

How to block a user

https://support.twitter.com/articles/117063-blocking-users-on-twitter