Social media: Mine of opportunities but tread with caution!

Social media has evolved a lot over the last few years and has become an important means of communication, entertainment, advertisement, information, education, business, etc. It has emerged as a global revolution that has remarkably impacted our lifestyle. The common social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become an integral part of daily activities of everyone, especially youngsters. The number of monthly active users at Facebook has been estimated at 1.59 billion, whereas this figure for Twitter is 307 millions.[1] It is a common sight to have someone messaging or browsing these sites while eating, studying, traveling or even at the workplace. It is not surprising that social media has equally influenced the medical community and has become an essential component of personal as well as professional life for medical practitioners.

The four common uses of social media by the medical community include personal communication, networking with colleagues, medical education and public health.[2] In addition to the commonly used sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and You-tube, there are other networks such as LinkedIn and Researchgate, which are specific to professionals. DoctorsHangout is a network for doctors and medical students worldwide; whereas Curofy is specifically for Indian doctors. Social media facilitates Free Open Access Medical Education in the form of blogs, tweets, Facebook groups, online videos, Google hangouts, podcasts, etc.[3] It has also been used to spread awareness and deal with public health issues, for example, smoking cessation, obesity management, healthy diet, prevention of diseases, etc.[4] Some medical centers, for example, Mayo Clinic, have established centers for social media, thus disseminating information related to health issues using minimal time and resources. Facebook has also been used to recruit subjects for health research.[4]

In this era of social revolution in health care, it is extremely important for the anesthesiologists to be aware of the potential benefits of social media in their clinical practice. In this issue, Haldar et al. have discussed the scope of social networking sites in Anesthesiology teaching, training and research.[5] The knowledge of these sites will help anesthesiologists to exploit the available resources for their professional development. However, at the same time, one must be aware of the problems that these sites can pose.

If used inappropriately without taking adequate precautions, social media can cause harm to the medical practitioner as well as the patient. Therefore professional standards should be maintained when using social media.[6] One must be careful to ensure the patient's confidentiality, maintain professional boundaries and not to harm the reputation of colleagues and the profession. Utmost care must be exercised while posting any information on these sites as it can be harmful or may be misused due to its wide accessibility and then redistribution by other readers. Remember the quote by Erin Bury, “Don't say anything online that you would not want plastered on a billboard with your face on it”. It has also been suggested that medical practitioners should use the strictest privacy settings to minimize such problems.[7]

Various international organizations and institutions have formulated guidelines for social media use by their staff members.[78] In India also, there is a strong need to have institutional guidelines for their practitioners so as to encourage safe medical practice and reap the maximum benefits without causing any harm from social media use.