4-1 Discussion: Social Media for Education and Communication

Social Media Use
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Social Media Use
Social media has become an indispensable tool of communication in this generation. It is a fast way to pass information from one person to the next and the reach is subtle. For health care professionals, this is a tool that comes with both benefits and risks in equal measures (George, Rovniak, & Kraschnewski, 2013). Some of the tools that health professionals can use to get information out to the patients and the rest of the population that may be interested include, Facebook, twitter, blogs, Instagram, WhatsApp, snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube, Tumblr, vines and even stubble upon among others. These are applications that connect millions of people per second and the multiplication effect is immense (Denecke et al., 2015).
There are risks associated with sharing information on social media especially with regard to health care practices. One of the liabilities involved is copying adverts from other sources. This is will be considered a liability and one that could easily attract a law suit. There is also a liability associated with copying someone else’s words (Spector, 2012). There is also lability associated with publishing content that defames another person. At the same time, publishing content that copyrighted without permission can easily end up in law suit (Clauson, 2016).
There are a number of ethical issues that can be impacted by social media use especially where inappropriate. One of the most fundamental is sharing private and confidential information in social media. This is one of the most incidental elements associated with social media in the health care sector (Clauson, 2016). Most of the information in health care is confidential and private. As such, sharing the same on social media is unethical. The other is associated with medically inaccurate information circulated on social media.
To make sure that patients are getting information from credible sources it is important to encourage them to use accredited sites through reference (Denecke et al., 2015). Where the patients are referred to the right sites that are professionally managed and taught the dangers of online information it is easier for them to understand and appreciate.
It is important to understand that every other person that knows how to use a computer and the internet, can easily post information that is not accredited; which can then be taken to be the truth and mislead millions of people (George, Rovniak, & Kraschnewski, 2013). It is important to understand the basics of vetting websites and information in an age where sensational j...