Thursday, June 30, 2011

I'm still sceptical about health professionals and social media...



Here's a short video put together to stimulate discussion about the threats and opportunities that social media provides for doctors (and other health professionals). The case is made that we (health professionals) have a responsibility to engage with social media so that we can guide patients to good resources. But does guiding to good content really necessitate the production of content? Does it need tweeting or blogging or just a good website? Do we really need web 2.0 for what is described in this video or wouldn't web 1.0 get us most of the way?
Would I encourage colleagues to set up a blog or a twitter account or a Facebook page with the aim of generating content for their patients? No. I've been in these spaces for a few years and I still wouldn't try this myself. I admire those practitioners who feel they can negotiate the boundaries of privacy, and openness with patients but I don't feel that I am there yet.
So I look forward to continuing the conversation. I've written more on my thoughts about health professionals and social media here, here, here and here. All of those posts have benefited from very rich comments for which I am very grateful.

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