Use of Social Media in Medicine: A Double-edged sword ?

Social Media (SM) is changing the way physicians and patients interact. SM is one of the drivers towards a more patient-centric model of healthcare. It offers a platform for health communications, empowerment and even possibly strengthening the physician-patient relationship.The use of SM in medicine has often brought on a lot of feedback, more negative than positive ones. The academic literature is commonly seen with articles on SM and how it poses dangers and risks to medical personnel. Many SM usage guidelines are also geared towards the expectations of misuse rather than positive considerations and constructive use. There is a need to assess its impact and utilisation in medicine, through processes such as consultation, education and creation of awareness, communications, interaction and sharing of information. The culture of medicine is one that values confidentiality, privacy, one to one interaction and very professional conduct. This is often thought to be contrasting to that of SM, which involves open sharing, connectivity and is thus, more informal. Despite the contrasting cultures, a significant proportion of medical personnel do use or are on SM platforms. Participation in SM networking and other similar internet sites can support physicians’ personal expression, enable individual physicians to have presence online, foster collegiality and camaraderie within the profession and provide opportunities to disseminate public health messages and other health communications. If properly and adequately used, within acceptable framework, SM can indeed be a boon, rather than a bane to medicine.