CardioExchange Archive

Vineet Arora and colleagues recently published a letter in JAMA about how physicians can find a balance between professional and personal online identities. We asked Vineet, an associate professor at the University of Chicago, to share why they wrote the letter and her advice for colleagues about their online presence.

As an avid user of social media, I was recently asked how I manage my online identity as a physician.  Specifically, how do I deal with “friend requests” from trainees or patients?  Also, how do I decide what to tweet or not tweet about?

As I pondered my answer, I thought of a recent article in JAMA which posited that total separation of personal and professional identities is impossible and that physicians should be aware of their online identity as “one” identity. While true that it is not easy to separate your identities entirely, it does not mean that a singular identity approach works for everyone. The reason to use a certain social media site may vary — and so does your identity with that reason. My colleagues and I thought that this perspective was important to share, so we collaborated on our letter to JAMA.

Here are a few ways I have chosen to maintain a separation of my professional and personal identity using social media:

• Consider the professional value and message of what you tweet. There are many things I consider tweeting about.  But I often “pause before posting” and consider if the tweet is in line with the professional identity that I am curating on Twitter.

While I may use Twitter to learn about the latest celebrity gossip, I don’t use my professional account to retweet that information to my followers unless it’s of interest to the medical community, as well (there are certain stories that could be relevant to both!).

Having said that, I am well aware of physicians who do tweet their personal love of sports or music and I do not believe that is “unprofessional.”  They choose to share their hobbies with the professional audience.  This is likened to a physician posting in his or her office a favorite photo of an athlete or a picture of them engaged in a hobby.  Physicians are free to make this choice to share personal information, but it does not mean they are obligated to.

• Reserve Facebook for personal photos and messages to friends and family.  I use Facebook for photos or messaging with friends and family.  Posting these photos on Twitter would not make as much sense because my audience would not understand the significance.  More importantly, as a matter of personal preference, I do not wish to disseminate personal photos to the larger audience of Twitter.

Additionally, numerous ethical guidelines and key opinion leaders guard against “friending” patients on Facebook.  For physicians looking to use Facebook, instead of using their “personal profile”, KevinMD highlights the importance of using a separate Facebook page for your professional practice.

• Tolerate a potential overlap provided that it does not “overtake the purpose” of the feed. I may post something on Twitter and Facebook at the same time that is of interest both professionally and to my personal network.  Someone in my Facebook network may post something professionally related about me, such as a paper or interview.  I am not a purist to the point of scrubbing my profiles to preserve their meaning, but I do make sure that these posts do not “overtake” the nature of my feed.

I have many personal friends and colleagues on Twitter who may post something that is not directly related to my professional feed (e.g., “Great to see you!”), but it does not undermine the professional purpose and image of my Twitter feed.

• Accept that Facebook, while reserved for personal use, does not give carte blanche to behave unprofessionally. Using Facebook for “personal use” does not mean you have an unrestricted license to say whatever you want or that it will stay “personal.”  This goes for anyone, not just physicians.

Despite the privacy settings, which get increasingly more difficult to decipher with each update, Facebook posts are not technically “private” — they can be reposted by friends to their networks.  Recently, a University of Chicago professor attending a neuroscience meeting posted about the lack of beauty among the women in his field.  An annoyed “friend” sent the screenshot to Jezebel, which was quickly followed by public outcries for him to be fired.  While freedom of speech is a fundamental right, that does not mean you won’t face the repercussions of what you say!

Another murky area, especially for trainees, is what to do with pictures of escapades out on the town.  While setting your profile to private can help, it is not a safeguard against someone finding incriminating photos and reconsidering your future at their institution.  The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has a great cautionary video depicting this scenario.  In addition, if questionable pictures were seen by state medical boards, it would likely result in an investigation.  So, it pays to pause before posting to consider the ramifications.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

How do you balance your private and professional identities on social media?