Social Media Audit and Plan

This was an interesting activity to undertake. I started by entering my full name in the Google search engine. I was not surprised to see my social media accounts in addition to some work-related media releases around the pandemic response within the healthcare organization I am employed.

I do not have a large online presence. In fact, up until the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, I didn’t have a Facebook account. Ultimately, I signed up for one to allow my young children to message with their friends during the lockdown. When I review my last 10 posts, they are typically sharing Halton Healthcare account stories and posting the odd proud parent photo of my children. Recently, I posted a “shout out” to Emergency Department (ED) nurses, shared a photo of my children on Christmas eve, promoted my son’s Hockey Fights Cancer fundraiser and shared a story of my daughter’s hockey team delivering gifts to local retirement and long term care homes. Below is a screenshot of these posts:

All the settings on my social media accounts are private and any interactions I have are with friends and family. In addition to Facebook, I also have a Twitter account where I follow a number of healthcare professionals specializing in critical care and emergency medicine. My most visited accounts post patient presentations (with all personal health information removed) and ask the audience to work through potential differential diagnoses. Historically, on Twitter, I have only followed accounts and have not routinely tweeted any content. The majority of the content I have been sharing has been personal through Facebook / Instagram. As I look to the future, I believe the Twitter platform would be the most beneficial for sharing professional and academic content.

Over the next week, I hope to update my LinkedIn profile. I currently have an active profile with minimal outdated information. I would like to spend some time updating that forum and spending some added time navigating and learning how best to use the platform to its highest potential. A strong social media presence with respect to my professional career is a goal I would like to work towards. I believe in order to achieve this I must view myself as the “brand”. The more visible I am on selected social media platforms, the greater my connection to the community of practice I will be able to foster. I am committed to keeping specific platforms separate from my professional ones. I would aim to maintain private Facebook and Instagram accounts. I have family spread out across the globe and I have been able to keep in touch with them by leveraging Facebook to share photos and stories.