Family physicians' utility of social media: a survey comparison among family medicine residents and physicians

Studies investigated whether participants mixed professional and personal information and activities on social media sites (blended profiles) or adopted a separation strategy (dual citizenship).

“Studies also investigated the purpose of SM use, whether participants mixed professional and personal information and activities on SM sites (blended profiles) or adopted a separation strategy where professional information and activities were clearly separated from personal ones (dual citizenship) [34,39,69,78,79,91,96,97,106].”

Social media provide students, residents, and faculty a good discussion medium and an engaging way to get high-quality current information.

“SM provide for students, residents, and faculty a good discussion medium and an engaging way to get high-quality current information [79,117].”

Exceptions were 95.4% of family medicine residents and physicians in Saudi Arabia reported having a social media account and checking them at least once a day, 93.4% of medical doctors in a Singapore hospital, and 100% of Chinese registered nurses owned a social media account.

“The exceptions were 3 studies: family medicine residents and physicians in Saudi Arabia where 95.4% of participants reported having an SM account and checking them at least once a day [79], 93.4% of medical doctors in a Singapore hospital [100], and 100% of Chinese registered nurses owned an SM account [107].”

Irfan et al's study showed females using social media more for professional purposes, and Wang et al's study, among registered nurses, was similar.

“Irfan et al’s [79] study showed females using SM more for professional purposes, and Wang et al’s [107] study, where the study population was registered nurses, was similar.”

Significant gender differences in social media use were established in several studies.

“Significant gender differences were established in several studies [71,79,91,95,105,107].”

Irfan et al found family medicine residents and physicians used social media for personal purposes (76.0%), professional reasons (26.0%), general education (46.0%), and continuing medical education (18.2%).

“Irfan et al [79] investigated family medicine residents and physicians use of SM not only for personal purposes (76%) or professional reasons (26%); they have determined that participants also use SM for general education (46%) and in a smaller proportion (18.2%) for continuing medical education [79].”

Lack of free time or time constraint was often recognized as a barrier.

“Lack of free time or time constraint was often recognized as a barrier [39,69,74,79,91,93,96], as well as lack of knowledge or technical skills for use of SM [33,39,76,79,93,118].”

Lack of knowledge or technical skills for use of social media was often recognized as a barrier.

“Lack of free time or time constraint was often recognized as a barrier [39,69,74,79,91,93,96], as well as lack of knowledge or technical skills for use of SM [33,39,76,79,93,118].”

A lack of free time or time constraint was often recognized as a barrier to health care professionals' use of social media in the context of e-professionalism, as well as a lack of knowledge or technical skills for use of social media.

“A lack of free time or time constraint was often recognized as a barrier [39,69,74,79,91,93,96], as well as a lack of knowledge or technical skills for use of SM [33,39,76,79,93,118].”

Blurred boundaries between professional and personal spheres of social media use, with concerns about exposure of private life or separating private and professional profiles, have been presented in numerous studies in this review.

“Blurred boundaries between professional and personal spheres of SM use [34, 39, 47, 51, 69, 78, 79, 91, 96, 97, 106], with concerns about exposure of one’s private life or separating private and professional profiles have been presented in numerous studies of this review.”

Blurred boundaries between professional and personal spheres of social media use, with concerns about exposure of one's private life, presenting details of personal life, or separating private and professional profiles, have been presented in numerous studies in this review.

“Blurred boundaries between professional and personal spheres of SM use [34, 39, 47, 51, 69, 78, 79, 91, 96, 97, 106], with concerns about exposure of one’s private life, presenting details of personal life, or separating private and professional profiles, have been presented in numerous studies in this review.”