Technology And Social Media

It is no secret as to how fast social media has grown over the past decade between helping connect with long lost friends and family on Facebook, getting your resume out to others through LinkedIn, sharing a video on YouTube, or even just letting off some steam on Twitter, hard to believe that so much of this we see in our day to day lives can be creating such a controversy within the Health Care System. Most of these sites listed are made into little convenient applications on majority of the populations smart phones that can be helpful as well as distracting (Gill, Kamath, & Gill, 2012).

As technology continues to become a significant part of society, we are beginning to the see the effects, both positive and negative, that come from such advancement. One topic that is widely discussed in this context is the use of social media in our daily life. Although it seems simple in nature, social media has not only transformed our views, but also the way we see our health and use of healthcare. Whether it be the mental illness cases in social media users or the spreading of helpful information on healthcare, social media has already made a considerable effect on society in both a medical and ethical state. One of the largest positive effects that comes to mind is the ability for response from health organizations over social media.

The growth of health care activities since then has truly encouraged patients to reach for information outside the confines of patient and physician interaction. Revolutionary new technology such as cell phones and computers, as well as the development of the Internet and social media sites, has served as where a vast majority of the public finds current knowledge for their problems.

St. Jude children’s research hospital is a non profit hospital where patients do not have to pay for care. St. Jude produce many heartfelt commercials to get the public to know about them who they are and why they should donate. Besides newspapers, and billboards, commercials where the best way to advertise, now a days social media is the way to go. St. Jude’s children’s research hospital should make less commercials to promote themselves and step into the new era where the benefits will be obvious and better than what commercials used to provide them. There are many ways to promote oneself on social media to reach various audiences and to get their point across. St. Judes should sell themselves online to the public and gain important support

We Can But Dare We: A Look into the Use of Social Media in Healthcare

Social media (digital technology) platforms are defined as any form of digital communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Over the last several years, the use of social media platforms such as blogs, text messaging, games, and Twitter, have had significant growth. Social media tools have become an effective way to expand reach, foster engagement and increase access to credible, evidence-based health information.

Now in looking at electronic or social media we have many choices. Facebook or our company website would be two options. However any electronic or social media would have advantages and disadvantages. An advantage would be that we could reach many people very quickly. Not only do many people use social media these days, but we could use social media to incorporate some of the traditional media styles. For example, we could use Facebook to get a video out stating our side of this issue. On the downside, many feel as though social media is not as intimate. We need to remember that the receiver of the electronic communications is not able to observe other important elements of the message that often come up with face-to-face interactions: tone of voice, facial expressions, and body posture, for example (Cheesebro, O'Connor, & Rios,  2010). Nonetheless, there are studies that are showing a substantial growth in use of electronic and social media for healthcare purposes. Graphic from "Study Predicts Growing Use Of Social Media In Healthcare " (2011).

Of the many different type of social media some are more popular and better suited for the nursing field. Katz

Dr Lynette Cusack RN, from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, positions social media as; “Individuals and organisations are embracing user-generated content, such as social networking, personal websites, discussion forums and message boards, blogs and micro blogs.” (Cusack, 2015).

Marketing with media and social networks are done on a daily basis. Just watching television alone will expose a consumer to making decisions on health care concerns. Within marketing, the consumer would like to focus on how many people are reached by the marketing approach. With media and social networks, advertising will be able to flourish throughout the world with the click of a mouse. Constructing advertising within media and social networks in the writer’s opinion is a smart move for consumers. The more frequent the attended audience can be reached, the more successful healthcare products and ventures will become.

The use of social media can be very beneficial to health care in different ways, including fostering professional connections, promoting timely communication with patients and family members, and educating and informing consumers and health care professionals. Social media is changing the way that health professionals and patients interact with each other. The use of social media and other electronic communication is expanding exponentially as the number of social media outlets, platforms and applications available continue to increase. Individuals use blogs, social networking sites, video sites, online chat rooms and forums to communicate both personally and professionally with others (NCSBN, 2011).

In recent years, the utilization of social media by health care providers and hospitals has grown tremendously (Von Muhlen & Ohno-Machado 2012). A survey done among more than 4,000 physicians conducted by QuantiaMD (social media site) concluded that more than 90% of the respondents use at least one form of social media for personal purpose whereas 65% utilized social media for professional activities and the use of social media by physicians is escalating (Courtney 2013). According to Modahl and colleagues, approximately 60% of physicians prefer interactions with patients via social media, giving strong support to provide patient education, followed by monitoring patients’ health, behavior, medication compliance and providing advice to patient

Mattingly (2015), provides a description of using social media towards patients and physicians for patient

Social Media can reduce the cost of the healthcare marketing. Facebook; YouTube; and Twitter can help the Board members of the PMH to promote the new clinic and to get new patients from the contacts obtained through the social media.

Massachusetts General Hospital uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. The knowledge and use of twitter is something that is very noticeable with the use of many different hashtags for all the events and messages that the organization is trying to get out while also maintaining a relationship with other organizations and individuals through the use of retweeting techniques. While the use of Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube is generally positive, the most prominent social media use is located on the public Facebook page. Unlike all the other social media mediums, the Facebook group is something that you can find all the latest and up-to-date information on this organization and their partners by looking at the Facebook page that is updated a few times a day. With all the information that I have gathered, I think that the website is very manageable and user friendly and the social media accounts are mediums that you can get a good in-depth material on the organization that is