John Makin shares his top tips for using social media responsibly as a young dentist – from maintaining professional standards to staying secure online.
Whether it’s sharing learning tips with fellow students, connecting with the wider dental community or simply expressing yourself, social media can be a great tool when you use it responsibly. However, it is important to be aware of the implications of social media on your personal and professional reputation.
The Dental Defence Union (DDU) has put together some golden rules for keeping things professional online.
1. Stay professional
Your posts and comments may be seen by people you do not know, potentially taken out of context, or misinterpreted. This may lead to the reader considering you to be unprofessional and, if they are motivated to, they may consider taking further action.
It may be tempting to use social media to let off steam about something that happened at work, or remark on general affairs in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, but you can never be sure that others will share your opinions.
The GDC’s guidance on using social media states: ‘Many dental professionals use social media sites that are not accessible to the public to share and find information. However, you must remember that many social media groups, even those set up for dental professionals, may still be accessible to members of the public.’
It is important to think carefully how others may perceive posts or comments before posting because an inappropriate photograph or even the groups you join could damage your reputation and public trust in the profession. It is also advisable to consider if you are identifiable as a dental professional in publicly accessible social media and moderate your posts accordingly.
2. Carefully consider friend requests
The GDC states that ‘you should think carefully before accepting friend requests from patients’ via your private profile.
3. Uphold patient confidentiality
The rules of confidentiality apply as much when posting online as they do to when you are chatting to a friend or family member.
The GDC states: ‘…you must be careful not to share identifiable information about patients without their explicit consent. When obtaining consent you should specify to the patient how exactly the information you propose to share will be used, for what purpose and where it will be available.
‘If you are sharing anonymised patient information, you must also take all possible precautions to make sure that the patient cannot be identified. Although individual pieces of information may not breach a patient’s confidentiality on their own, a number of pieces of patient information published online could be enough to identify them or someone close to them.’
When something is shared publicly on social media, it may be seen by the patient, their family and friends but also your colleagues, regulatory bodies and the media. This is still the case even if you post on a ‘closed’ forum. Before posting, consider whether there may be a potential breach of confidentiality and also how you would feel if a colleague or patient saw what you had written, or if it was shared to a wider audience.
4. Keep information secure
Highly personal information may be accessible on social media profiles for others to view without the owner being aware. You may believe that your profiles are secure, but security settings may change or require updates. Consequently, it is worth regularly reviewing the privacy settings for each of your social media profiles.
Social media can be a powerful professional tool, but it’s important to limit your exposure to the associated risks as you would in daily practice. The DDU’s advice is to consider how any post may be interpreted and seek advice as soon as possible if you have concerns.
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