Social Media for the Integrated Care Psychologist

So you probably already know that I’m into social media. I mean, I’m writing a blog and posting about it on twitter and e-mail listservs. So how did I get involved and why do I do it? It all started with the APA Public Education Campaign. I’ve always been interested in the public perception of psychologists, and I served as the PEC liaison for Ohio for several years. APA’s PEC folks (you know who I’m talking about Angel Brownwell and Luana Bossolo!) convinced me that social media was a great way to reach out to the public about psychology. I gravitated toward Twitter—the quick sound bites, ability to read or ignore the news stream, and public nature seemed to fit what I wanted to do: get the word out about psychology and stress related illness. I decided I would make it all public and all psychology/professional related, so it wouldn’t matter if a patient followed me or not. As time went on, I found I actually used social media as much to make professional connections and keep current on health news as to inform the public, and these remain my two goals. Here are my tips for using social media successfully as an integrated health psychologist.

Keep it all professional. I write every tweet and blog as if anyone could see it—my employer, my patients, etc. It may be dry for some (not everyone gets as excited about integrated care as I do!), but your online history is forever.
Have a focus. I tend to tweet about specific areas: stress management, breast cancer care, integrated care, APAPO. People who follow generally know what to expect from my feed.
Vet retweets and links that you post. Sometimes the quick blurb sounds good, but the actual article is bad science.
Post original health psych content. If you read an interesting health psych article (or wrote an interesting one!), think about creating a post with a link, or even linking to a short blogpost on the content. I get more of my research reading in this way than I would like to admit, and appreciate others vetting my articles for me!
Live tweet from conferences. I use my twitter feed after conferences as notes on what I thought was most important. It's a great way to stay engaged and connect with others at professional conferences.
Post regularly (but not incessantly!). Some people post once a day or have a regular theme. Others just when they have time. I set aside about 10 minutes in the morning for social media and try to do at least one original post daily.
Use posts to feature your work. Post about upcoming conferences, papers coming out, and community events you're speaking at. This gets the word out to a wider audience, and also helps feature your host/organization.
Have a social media policy. Keely Kolmes (@drkkolmes) has a great resources on this. Mine is not so intense, but in my informed consent there is a line “I do not interact with patients over email or social media given the insecure nature of these forms of communications.”
Follow your hospital's social media policy. Limit your time at work, and don't post as official statements from your organization, just your unofficial feed.
Use pictures. No one likes an egg (this is the faceless picture Twitter gives you until you replace it). You need a professional profile picture. Using pictures with your post is also more eye catching.
Use links. Links help you to get more info in those 140 bites. I send out lots of links from my workplace (@ClevelandClinic) and the Practice Organization (@APAPractice). Both have great information.
Tag others in your posts (i.e., just mention their handle in your posts (i.e., @DrAmySullivan). This will alert them to your post and they are also likely to retweet you.
Retweet others. If someone alerts you to their post, it is good etiquette to retweet it if it is relevant to your twitter feed. This sends good vibes to your followers.
Like posts. This is a nice way to reinforce colleagues. If they are letting people know they gave a talk or completed an accomplishment, liking their post lets them know you are interested and rooting for them.
Follow your colleagues (psychologists, physicians, nurses, etc.), and check out who has a large following/influence. Tag them in posts so they retweet you (this is how you build a following of your own).
Follow feeds that give you news on integrated care—for example I follow APAPO (@APAPractice), @APADivision38, @APOSHQ, & @APAHCnews, for health psych news.
Direct tweets. Remember, it you tag a person in a tweet at the very beginning, you are sending that tweet only directly to them (and anyone who follows you both). Use these for more personal or light hearted messages—but don’t forget it’s still out there.
You can also send direct messages more privately. This is a good way to follow up with someone that you don’t have their regular contact info but maybe connected with at a conference through social media. But otherwise, put it out into the “twitterverse. “
Consider other social media outlets: Facebook, Linked In, ResearchGate. I can’t keep up with too many of these. Facebook has a more personal feel to me, so I try to keep my privacy settings there high and rarely post but follow family/friends there. Linked In can be good for professional connections/job hunts. ResearchGate is useful in the academic medicine world. There are literally thousands of other social media venues but these are the most common ones I see integrated care psychologist in.
Have fun with it!