TikTok. Instagram. Twitter. Snapchat. Facebook.
BeReal. Reddit. With more places to post than ever before, Americans are doing
just that—and the data1 proves it.
Instagram alone boasts 2 billion users and sees over 100 million photos
uploaded daily. 1.9 billion users log onto Facebook every day, and the average
American spends 500 minutes per month on TikTok.
Regardless of whether
you’re for or against social media, the undeniable reality is that sharing our
daily highs and lows, likes and dislikes, memes and criticisms, has become an
intrinsic part of the American social fabric. And where exactly does all this
hearting, posting, and commenting take place? According to Zippia,2 over
77% of Americans use social media apps on the job, and the average working
American spends 12% of their workday scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, and
other platforms.
Because so much of
Americans’ daily social media use occurs during the business day, learning that
school and work feature heavily in social sharing shouldn’t come as much of a
surprise. Snaps and stories feature the physical workplace in the background;
desks, notebooks, and computer screens sneak their way into on-the-job or
at-school selfies; complaints about faculty members, bosses, clients, and school
procedures get tweeted out into the universe; and in the end, our shared spaces
may lose a considerable amount of privacy.
Social Media & Medical Professions
It’s easy to dismiss
social media as thoughtless, harmless fun, but when apps overlap with school
and the workplace, students and employees—particularly those in medical professions—can get themselves into hot water. Consider
these two social-media-in-the-workplace stories that made headlines in 2022:
- The nurse who filmed herself doing a
TikTok dance in the hallway of her hospital moments after her patient died
- The group of obstetrics nurses who listed
their “icks” about patients in a video that was filmed at their hospital
Though these incidents
occurred in the human medical industry instead of at a veterinary practice,
veterinarians can still learn a lot from these cautionary tales. Two videos
that didn’t feel noteworthy at the moment of posting quickly spiraled into
national-scale embarrassments for the medical professionals featured in the
videos, their employers, and any patients who might have crossed their paths.
The takeaway? Think
before you post. This golden rule of social media should guide you
regardless of whether your posts are focused on your personal or professional
life and abiding by this rule is the key to avoiding the social media danger
zone. Read on for a list of social media tips that all veterinarians should
follow.
Social Media Guidelines for Veterinarians
1.
Think
before you post. Before you hit
send on a post or story that takes place at school or in the practice where you
work or mentions work in any capacity, ask yourself: Is this a post that you
would be comfortable with your classmates, professors or other colleagues
seeing? Would you show it to the patient’s owner? If the answer is no, refrain
from sharing.
2.
Familiarize
yourself with your university’s social media policy.* While your social media accounts are
irrefutably your own, posting content related to your school or practice based
experiences (or even content that isn’t related to school or work but occurs in
the clinic) may allow others to have a say in what you share. Many universities
and practice owners create social media policies that employees must sign, and
violations of these policies can lead to censure or even firing. Carefully
reading through policies in place at school and any practices where you are
working or completing clinical experiences is a must; if a policy is not in
place, consider asking the practice or school for their recommendations.
3.
Secure
owner permission before sharing information about patients, including photos. Photos of clients in the clinic setting,
diagnoses, and visit information all constitute PII (personally identifiable
information). Sharing PII without express owner consent is a breach of privacy
laws and posting on social media is no exception. Even if the post or tweet
gets deleted, sharing this data is still considered a violation. The same holds
true for 24-hour Instagram or Snapchat stories. Posting without owner consent
is a lapse in judgment that can result in scathing reviews, legal trouble, and
other ramifications that have the potential to harm your clinic.
4.
Be
aware of your audience and privacy setting. A private Instagram with 100 friend and family followers is
significantly different from a TikTok with hundreds of thousands of unknown
followers. If a veterinarian posts a video of themselves in clinic-branded
scrubs saying that they’re frustrated with the clinic’s practice manager for
XYZ reasons, the potential for negative fallout is drastically increased on the
public TikTok versus the private Instagram. Consider your followers and privacy
settings before posting anything work-related.
5.
Engage
with respectful content. Many social media apps (mainly Facebook and Twitter) actively show
your friends and mutual followers the content that you interact with. If you
keep your posts and stories clean and professional but like, retweet, or
comment on inappropriate content, there’s a good chance your followers will see
it. If your account is public, remember that you are a reflection
of your university or practice. If clients (or even fellow colleagues) catch
you interacting with harmful or disparaging content and are made to feel
uncomfortable, they have every right to bring this to the attention of faculty
or other supervisors.
6.
Consider
the legal ramifications of sharing information about malpractice
incidents. In the event you find
yourself embroiled in a malpractice allegation, do not under any
circumstances share details of the claim proceedings. Professional
liability claims and license defense complaints can be frustrating and
upsetting, and the need to vent is only human. However, if your malpractice
claim escalates into a trial, any social media posts you’ve made about the
claim can be used in court. To ensure the best possible outcome for yourself
and your practice, keep the details of malpractice incidents private and off
the internet.
Just like Instagram
Explore, this list of social media guidelines could easily go on forever.
However, the six tips outlined above are the most important to keep in mind
while practicing veterinary medicine. By adhering to these rules and using a
bit of common sense, you can keep your clinic content, your clients happy, and
your social media stress-free.
Sources:
1.
https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/social-media-statistics#tk-usage-stats
2.
https://www.zippia.com/advice/social-media-at-work-statistics/