VIDEO: Have purpose on social media, post regularly to ‘solidify your identity’
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In this Healio video exclusive, Jason Silverman, MD, MSc, FRCPC, highlights tips for social media use from his workshop at NASPGHAN, where he discussed how physicians can best use social media to make connections and promote their brand.
“The first thing you’re going to want to do when you’re getting started on any social media platform is to find your people,” Silverman, a pediatric gastroenterologist and associate professor at the University of Alberta in Canada, told Healio. “That is so you can link up with people you know and, importantly, people who share your interests.”
From there, Silverman recommended physicians determine their “purpose of being on the social media platform,” whether it is to make connections with peers, share research, be a patient advocate, or educate students or other health care providers.
“You can achieve more than one purpose, but it helps solidify your identity if you at least focus on one or two initially,” he said. “Once you’ve grown a bit of a following, you can branch out and try to work on some other goals.”
Additionally, physicians should post regularly to help establish that identity and increase their following, he noted.
“Build an audience,” Silverman said. “Building an audience isn’t about fame — it’s about having an impact, having real reach and doing something with the work you’re putting in. Consistency is key.”
Although it is important to be yourself on social media, Silverman said physicians need to maintain professionalism and follow local, organizational and institutional social media guidelines.
“I always say do not post anything online you wouldn’t be OK with either your parents or your patients seeing or hearing,” Silverman said. “If you follow that rule, you will be OK. But at the same time, it’s OK to show your sense of humor and your personality; you don’t have to be completely wooden.”
Lastly, if someone uses social media for academic promotion, they should document proof of their impact using the principles of scholarship, he said.
“You can document impact, whether that is the number of people reached or citations of your social media work noted elsewhere,” Silverman said. “It’s important to realize that some people are able to convert digital scholarships or things they do in the online world into traditional scholarships — the things that promotion boards are used to seeing such as collaboration on peer reviewed papers, workshops and talks. Look at your own institution’s academic promotion guidelines on digital scholarships and see where your work can fit.”
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Silverman J, et al. Social media for your patients, your brand and your promotion. Presented at: NASPGHAN; Oct. 4-7, 2023; San Diego.
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