Social media and professionalism: a retrospective content analysis of Fitness to Practise cases heard by the GDC concerning social media complaints
Open accessAbstract
Introduction Since 2013, all General Dental Council (GDC) registrants' online activities have been regulated by the GDC's social media guidelines. Failure to comply with these guidelines results in a Fitness to Practise (FtP) complaint being investigated.Aims This study explores the prevalence of social media related FtP cases investigated by the GDC from 1 September 2013 to 21 June 2016.Method Documentary analysis of social media related FtP cases published on the GDC's website was undertaken. All cases that met the study's inclusion criteria were analysed using a quantitative content analysis framework.Findings It was found that 2.4% of FtP cases published on the GDC website during that period were related to breaches of the social media guidelines. All of the cases investigated were proven and upheld. Most of those named in the complaints were dental nurses and the most common type of complaint was inappropriate Facebook comments.Conclusions The low incidence rate should be interpreted with caution, being illustrative of the types of issues that might arise rather than the volume. The GDC will need to remain vigilant in this area and ensure that social media awareness training is an active part of CPD for all the dental team.
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- Authors
- Neville, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Neville, P.
- ORCID
- Neville, P.
- Venue
- British Dental Journal
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 223
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 353-357
- ISSN
- 0007-0610 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-5373
- OpenAlex
- W2750626303
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 2.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- BDJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Regulation
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Occupational and Professional Licensing Regulation
- Keywords
- social media, fitness to practise, General Dental Council, social media policy, dental assistants, Facebook comments, professional boundaries, continuing professional development
- MeSH terms
- Professionalism, Dentistry, Retrospective Studies, Social Media
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