Gen X and Y providers continue to push the edge on Facebook

I’m not sure why, but I’m never too surprised when I hear about healthcare professionals who get themselves into hot water using social media platforms such as Facebook.  We’ve blogged about it before, and here is yet another article which speaks to the potential pitfalls of casting your personal thoughts, pictures, and stories online for the whole world (including your patients) to see.

To be clear, I’m not phobic when it comes to social media – I have an online profile myself with Facebook and Twitter.  I just think online socialites need to think things through and have a bit of a filter – especially if you’re a healthcare professional. 

Imagine that there was a technology that would allow the entire world access to what you think, see, and feel, but only when you let the world in.  Wouldn’t you want to maybe clean up your act a bit – at least when the door to the world was open?  I would. 

Amazingly, the technology exists, yet many refuse to acknowledge its power to crush even the most sturdy of reputations when used carelessly.  The technology is called Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and every other social media platform out there, and its right there for the taking – to either make or break you regardless of your economic status or social circle.

By all means, connect with friends online – connect with strangers.  Just know that anyone may be watching, including your employers, patients and community.

Here’s a good article from HealthLeadersMedia.com on some of the issues that can accompany social media use by hospital employees.

Social networking Web sites and modern communication media, such as text messaging, e-mail, and smartphones, are a part of our daily lives. Although such technologies have a place in society, they are taking a toll on the professional image of tomorrow’s physicians.

In fact, 60% of medical schools that responded to a recent survey reported incidents of students posting unprofessional content online, according to a study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Medical schools also reported finding frequent references to intoxication (39%) and sexually suggestive material (38%).

Medical students are not the only Gen Xers or Yers divulging too much information online. A 2008 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that residents are also posting information that they may not have otherwise shared with patients.