Social Media to Make Professional Connections (I)

Dave L. Dixon, PharmD, BCACP, BCPS, CDE, CLS  - Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy and - Brent N. Reed, PharmD, BCPS, BCCP  - University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - talk with us about using social media for professional development and staying current with the latest evidence to support your practice.

Key Lessons:

• Social media includes a wide range of online applications intended to interact with other users in a public setting.
• Social media, especially Twitter, has become an increasingly important forum for connecting with professional colleagues and engaging in dialog about cutting edge issues that impact patient care and pharmacy practice.
• Social media use should be done in a systematic, thoughtful way - you need to decide what your goals are, who to follow, and how frequently to check your social media feeds.
• Being a passive recipient of social media posts (aka being a "lurker") is a great way to get started but eventually, you may wish to share and comment on content you find valuable ... as well as create your own original content.
• Learning how to curate your social media feed can help prevent information overload.
• Following a professional conference (and the people attending) on Twitter can enhance the conference experience and enable those who are not able to attend the conference to learn about what's happening.
• Engaging in social media can be personally and professionally rewarding.  Share your personality!  It should be fun.

Get the Social Media Infographic by Ashley and Brooke Barlow (@theABofPharmaC)