Best Ways to Use Social Media to Your Advantage

This week we are joined by Madeline Belk, who is finishing her PGY2 in infectious diseases at Huntsville Hospital. We discuss how to build a presence on social media and use it to help build your brand when applying to post-graduate training positions. We cover the do’s and don’ts of social media from a professional standpoint. The social media account you choose to use and how you use it is completely up to you.  You can choose to be both personal and professional, or select specific social media accounts to be more personal vs more professional on.  Don’t try to do too much at once, spend a few months getting really good at one social media platform before moving on to the next. 

Tips for building your profile:

1.    Select a username that’s simple and professional if using for learning or networking

2.    For your avatar or profile picture, use one of your face that is clear and that is trustworthy, likeable, and asymmetrical

3.    For your bio, include your location, city and state and where you work or train and what you are interested in. 

4.    Be more effective, share photo’s or screen shots or even just an emoji to be more visual.

5.    Tag other accounts when possible. 

6.    Identify hashtags and join the conversation

If you need help posting, try an OTILT, which stand for ONE THING I LEARNED TODAY. 

*Follow Madeline Belk on Twitter @MadelineBelk

 *Social Media primer for pharmacists article: https://doi.org/10.1002/jac5.1120

(Dixon DL, Reed BN. tweet or not to tweet? A primer on social

media for pharmacists. J Am Coll Clin Pharm. 2019;2:554-562.)

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Music by: @LiQWYD