Nursing and social media

Abstract

Communication is an essential aspect of human interaction. On 10 March 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, sparking the advent of a new telecommunications industry. Within today’s society, the internet is an important form of communication for many people, and therefore denying or restricting access, while hospitalised for example, is failing to address people’s needs. In today’s world the internet is a central element of daily life, and is fast replacing the telephone as the main source of communication. The face of the internet is constantly evolving, and social media platforms are rapidly changing landscapes. Web 2.0 describes a change in the way humans interact with information online. Since the inception of Web 2.0 we have witnessed internet users adjust from being passive recipients of web-based content to active creators and curators of digital content (Ferguson 2013). Social media platforms are wide ranging and include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat to name a few. Users of these platforms can actively create their own content by posting and uploading photos, sharing content, ‘liking’ or blogging information and ideas. Social media is an umbrella term that includes social networking (such as LinkedIn), content sharing (such as Instagram), web publishing (such as blogging and micro-blogging) and wikis (including Wikipedia) (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development 2013). While nursing has been relatively slow to uptake these innovative tools and the social media boom, the potential application within nursing practice, policy, education and research are extremely far reaching and should be embraced (Ferguson 2013). However, social media should be approached with risk at front of mind. Nursing remains one of the most risk-averse profes¬sions, and rightly so, as we are often caring for vulnerable individuals. Therefore, it is important that when applying social media to nursing practice, this is carefully risk managed and assessed for appropriateness in practice