I highlighted some of the benefits of professionals utilizing social media in “Growing on my Masters Degree Journey: My Reflections.” The purpose of this post is to expose some of the negative consequences of social media use and to act as a cautionary tale.
The following is an example that gained a lot of attention and particularly offended female healthcare workers. An article titled “Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons” was published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery (Haroudin et al., 2019). This article, authored by six males and a single female, attempted to shame young surgeons for what they deemed to be unprofessional content (Hardouin et al., 2019). They used unethical methodology that was highly subjective and showed pervasive biases (Gloviczki & Lawrence, 2020). The criteria were based on antiquated norms and targeted women significantly more than men, largely attributable to the predominantly male authorship. For instance, they considered social media posts of female doctors wearing bikinis at the beach or posing in “provocative Halloween costumes” as potentially unprofessional (Hardouin et al., 2019). This caused outrage across social media resulting in the viral hashtag, #MedBikini (Shapiro, 2020).
The trend involved posting a photo in a bikini or casual attire with #MedBikini. The goal was to humanize, not de-professionalize, women in a traditionally male profession (Shapiro, 2020). Shapiro (2020) perfectly described the “creep factor” of male students and fellows using fake social media accounts to track female surgeons. The backlash resulted in a retraction (Gloviczki & Lawrence, 2020). The apology stated, “The Editors and the review process failed to identify errors in the design of the study, to detect unauthorized use of the data to recognize the conscious and unconscious biases plaguing the methodology.” (Gloviczki & Lawrence, 2020). I shared the same sentiment as the majority of the public, and found the article disgusting. I also felt it was a huge oversight on the Editors for allowing it to pass the peer-review process in the first place, to be published in such a highly respected academic journal. The retraction created by Gloviczki & Lawrence (2020) further explained:
“The goal of professionalism in medicine is to help ensure trust among patients, colleagues and hospital staff. However, professionalism has historically been defined by and for white, heterosexual men and does not always speak to the diversity of our workforce or our patients.”
Dr. Mudit Chowdhary was quoted in Forbes saying, “I have issues with the definition of unprofessional behaviour…it is inappropriate to label social issues as unprofessional. We are humans first before physicians.” (Shapiro, 2020). Certain professions seem to be held to a higher standard in terms of how the general public wants them to be presented, both online and offline. However, I tend to agree with Dr. Mudit Chowdhary. My main concern is patient confidentiality; ensuring no privacy breaches is a standard healthcare policy (VCH, 2017). Otherwise, I lean towards supporting anti-censorship and free speech. I believe anyone can post what they want so long as ethical judgment is used and it is not directly violating the platforms rules and regulations, such as inciting violence. Although the example above was met with a lot of uproar, it is not to say that all criticism of potentially unprofessional social media posts is unwarranted.
Sharing inappropriate material or spreading misinformation can be dangerous and have consequences ranging from a person being disgraced to democracy being attacked (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). The Netflix Documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” provides a critical analysis of social media and even views the topic from a philosophical lens. In fact, many of the panel members explain how the unexpected uses of social media are creating an existential crisis (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). The key problems that are focused on include tech addiction, fake news, and polarization (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). Technology has made it incredibly easy to distribute information. Gossip, rumours, and misinformation are quick to be spread, which is why curation of credible information can be challenging. In fact, researchers at MIT revealed that fake news on Twitter spreads six times faster than the truth (Vosoughi et. al., 2018). Falsehood diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth (Vosoughi et. al., 2018). This statement was true across all categories of information, including false news about politics, terrorism, natural disasters, science, urban legends, and financial information (Vosoughi et. al., 2018).
It is important to recognize that these social media services are not actually free; advertisers that are interested in our attention pay for them (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). Therefore, by engaging with these platforms you are selling your useful data (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). Jaron Lanier, the founder of virtual reality and a computer scientist, described the transaction in the documentary (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). Lanier stated, “It’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behaviour and perception that is the product.” (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). He promotes deleting social media entirely, since he views it as a way to ensure that there are people out there not being influenced or manipulated by big businesses and advertisers, as well as a way to limit tracking and data collection (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). One of the panel members, Tristan Harris, previously worked for Google and has inside knowledge on the motivations behind the design, the business model, and the implications of technology (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020). Harris is the co-founder and the president of the Center for Humane Technology. Harris cautions, “Social media isn’t a tool that’s just waiting to be used. It has it’s own goals and it has it’s own means of pursuing them by using your psychology against you.” (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020).
Social media can be used in meaningful ways such as catalyzing positive change, reuniting family members, and creating friendships. From a professional standpoint, it can be great for growing your business or network. It is a difficult balance having a social media presence that is authentic yet professional. The takeaway message is think before you post. Evaluate the content and your overall online activities to minimize negative optics. Perhaps, it is even worth considering eliminating social media altogether as suggested in “The Social Dilemma” (Rhodes & Orlowski, 2020).
Hardouin, S., Cheng, T.W., Mitchell, E.L., Raulli, S.J., Jones, D.W., Siracuse, J.J., & Farber, A. (2019).
Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons. J Vasc
Surg. 72(2), 667-671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2019.10.069. (Retraction published 2020
by Gloviczki, P. & Lawrence, Editors, J Vasc Surg., 72[4], 1514)
Rhodes, L. (Producer), & Orlowski, J. (Director). (2020). The Social Dilemma [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.netflix.com
Shapiro, N. (2020, July 25). Viral #MedBikini Response to Controversial Manuscript Leads Editor
to Retract Article. Forbes. Retrieved January 24, 2021 from
controversial-manuscript-leads-editor-to-retract-article/?sh=296826af1f47
Vancouver Coastal Health. (2017). Social Media, Websites and Online Communication. Retrieved
from http://shop.healthcarebc.ca/vch/VCHPolicies/D-00-11-30010.pdf
Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science
359(6380), 1146-1151. doi: 10.1126/science.aap9559
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