Social Media Tips
Written by Andrew Woods
In the early stages of professional networking through virtual platforms, the only medium that was considered appropriate was LinkedIn. However, in the past couple of years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an emergence of #MedTwitter and isolated bubbles within social networks like Twitter and Instagram that caters to the various interests of those pursuing medicine. The implementation, and likely continuation, of the virtual interview process, has only fueled this growth as the graduate medical education (GME) community and applicants alike have realized they can now market themselves all year while engaging with like-minded individuals in their virtual communities.
Jumping into this sphere can certainly be intimidating, but have no fear, for #InsidetheMatch is here! For full transparency, I am not active on Instagram because no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get engaged like I can on Twitter. The tips that follow will be best for Twitter, but you can apply them to Instagram as well.
Tip #1: Designing Your Professional Profile
You need to think of yourself as a business, with unique products that a customer would want. I will use my personal Twitter account as an example to follow along with. First and foremost, my handle, @TheAndrewWoods, has my actual name in it. Just like any business, you want your social media presence to be synonymous with yourself. I have seen clever puns and catchy phrases used as a handle, which can work under the right circumstance, but for the most part, try to get a simple handle that can be easily tied to you. The next thing you will notice is my year of education and what specialty I am pursuing. This is important as it allows my name to show up when someone searches #Physiatry on Twitter. Hashtags help create those isolated bubbles mentioned earlier, so having that in your profile will help others find and interact with you. The information after that identifies important organizations (more bubbles!) I am affiliated with as well as some information that shows a more personal side to humanize you to the rest of the #MedTwitter community.
Tip #2: Decide How You Want to Engage
Do you want to post about anything and everything? Do you want to create educational content through Tweetorials? Do you just want to lurk in the background, retweeting things that interest you or liking posts that you enjoy? The best part about this tip is it is entirely up to you! I am personally intimidated, although very intrigued, by Tweetorials and so the content I post is typically from organizations that I am a part of and retweets/likes/comments on content that I find engaging. As you become more immersed in the community, you will find your niche and refine your engagement as your following grows.
Tip #3: Don’t Be Afraid to Promote Yourself
For those of us that have an ounce of humility, the hardest thing to do is talk about ourselves. However, there is a difference between bragging about yourself and promoting your accomplishments in a professional manner. Did you just win some big award? Let the community know! Did you just publish a project you are proud of? Spread the word! The best part of the #MedTwitter community that I have noticed is the shared sense of joy when people talk about their latest accomplishments. Now here is the rub: if you ONLY talk about yourself, don’t engage with others in their accomplishments, and come off as braggadocios, it has the potential to be seen as a negative. So long story short, don’t be afraid to talk about yourself, just don’t make that your only contribution to the bubbles you find yourself in.
Tip #4: Addressing the Elephants in the Room: Sex, Politics, and Religion
Let’s cut to the chase on this one, we live in a more polarized world today than at any other point in our lifetime. There have always been taboo topics that are avoided in the workplace, and today is no different. With that said, if you are a medical student that will be applying to residency in the coming years, the question you need to ask yourself is if a specific topic is so important to you that you are willing to write off programs based on their disagreement. At the end of the day, everything you post is a personal endorsement, and so you must understand there is always a chance that you dissuade a program from engaging with you down the road based on the stances you take.
Tip #5: Have Fun and Don’t Be Afraid to Take a Break!
The point of all this is to enjoy the communities you find and engage in professional networking on platforms previously reserved for telling people what you had for breakfast. While those aspects still exist in other communities, the #MedTwitter sphere has fostered unique opportunities for students to interact with each other as well as some of their field’s top physicians. Take advantage of those connections, but if you ever find yourself in a toxic relationship with social media, take a break! There is nothing wrong with taking a step back to reevaluate why you originally joined and whether you were achieving that goal.
*The positions taken throughout this post do not reflect the official stance of any organization that I represent or am a part of.
