Facebook/Twitter

  • Thread starter Thread starter 606577
  • Start date Start date
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
6

606577

Members don't see this ad.
I have never been into social media. I am planning to go to school out of state and will know no one. Is it worth it to make an account or will people just think im a creep because I just made an account and have no friends, comments on it.

Is it weird to not have a facebook? Or is it on the way out?
 
Information travels at the speed of light. You will miss out on all the fun things without facebook, parties, even information about school. I would get it, not for socializing online but at least for socializing outside the internet.
 
gebor said:
I have never been into social media. I am planning to go to school out of state and will know no one. Is it worth it to make an account or will people just think im a creep because I just made an account and have no friends, comments on it.

Is it weird to not have a facebook? Or is it on the way out?
Click to expand...
I would get Facebook for the sole purpose of at least getting to know your class. A lot of people share study guides, old exams, etc. through Facebook groups, and you'll definitely be out of the loop. Shocked you've managed this long without it.
 
I can't speak for all schools, but at mine the quickest way to spread info is via FB. Changes in schedules, events, posting of study guides and resources, etc is always though that route. Profs even request we post on the class FB page to update students before they get emails out. I would feel like I was missing out not only on social events, but academic stuff as well.
 
I feel like it is very easy to have an FB account as a student but things get complicated once you start ascending the ladder. Imagine you become Chief Dr and people can see what you have posted or written. Does this not deteriorate the amount of respect they will show you? Also, you have to be really careful with what you say. People can take you down and badmouth you. I just feel like privacy supersedes sharing and all that crap.
 
Carbocation1 said:
I feel like it is very easy to have an FB account as a student but things get complicated once you start ascending the ladder. Imagine you become Chief Dr and people can see what you have posted or written. Does this not deteriorate the amount of respect they will show you? Also, you have to be really careful with what you say. People can take you down and badmouth you. I just feel like privacy supersedes sharing and all that crap.
Click to expand...

Put everyone on limited.
 
Carbocation1 said:
I feel like it is very easy to have an FB account as a student but things get complicated once you start ascending the ladder. Imagine you become Chief Dr and people can see what you have posted or written. Does this not deteriorate the amount of respect they will show you? Also, you have to be really careful with what you say. People can take you down and badmouth you. I just feel like privacy supersedes sharing and all that crap.
Click to expand...
:smack:. He's not President of the AMA.
 
Carbocation1 said:
I feel like it is very easy to have an FB account as a student but things get complicated once you start ascending the ladder. Imagine you become Chief Dr and people can see what you have posted or written. Does this not deteriorate the amount of respect they will show you? Also, you have to be really careful with what you say. People can take you down and badmouth you. I just feel like privacy supersedes sharing and all that crap.
Click to expand...
I think that when the 20-somethings of today become old enough to become attendings/medical directors/chiefs, social media would be just as commonplace as it is on college campuses today.

In fact, some employees expect an online presence. A positive online persona can be reassuring.

People take their technology with them as they age.
 
Haven't had FB since sophomore of undergrad. Done fine w/o it.
 
Carbocation1 said:
I feel like it is very easy to have an FB account as a student but things get complicated once you start ascending the ladder. Imagine you become Chief Dr and people can see what you have posted or written. Does this not deteriorate the amount of respect they will show you? Also, you have to be really careful with what you say. People can take you down and badmouth you. I just feel like privacy supersedes sharing and all that crap.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to get complicated. Don't post any dumb pictures or make ridiculous comments with public settings on. However, if you wanted to behave like that, you could keep everything private. You don't have to have pictures, your wall comments, or "about" section visible to friends or the public. It can be very private - don't not get FB for that reason. Furthermore, if you're a big shot doc you'll have a professional, cultivated page anyways completely separate from your personal one.
 
Look at what happened to Donald Sterling. His right to freedom and speech and privacy have been infringed upon. And now he lost the team despite being that freaking owner. Social media and digital footprints only make these situations more likely to occur. The thing I like a lot about medicine is that it is a conservative profession for the most part.
 
DrEnderW said:
It doesn't have to get complicated. Don't post any dumb pictures or make ridiculous comments with public settings on. However, if you wanted to behave like that, you could keep everything private. You don't have to have pictures, your wall comments, or "about" section visible to friends or the public. It can be very private - don't not get FB for that reason. Furthermore, if you're a big shot doc you'll have a professional, cultivated page anyways completely separate from your personal one.
Click to expand...
What about chat messages that are saved? Say you write something controversial then someone backstabs you by bringing the message to board members.
 
There is no way to have FB not save chat history as far as I know. Everything you write is saved forever and can be used against you.
 
Carbocation1 said:
There is no way to have FB not save chat history as far as I know. Everything you write is saved forever and can be used against you.
Click to expand...

A lawyer friend told me not to write anything in e-mails or chats that you wouldn't want the world to know about, and so that's exactly what I do. Treat your profile as unsecured and you won't have any issues.
 
I made a blank FB page and use it to access our class' group page. I don't have thing personal on it, don't use it for anything but school, and I still get all the details I need. I don't think you need a Twitter.
 
Just don't post stupid things and you'll be fine, end of story. FB is an excellent way to communicate with your classmates. There's no good reason not to have one.
 
Carbocation1 said:
What about chat messages that are saved? Say you write something controversial then someone backstabs you by bringing the message to board members.
Click to expand...

You might just want to refrain from ever speaking in front of other people too then. You never know when someone is recording you.
 
Carbocation1 said:
There is no way to have FB not save chat history as far as I know. Everything you write is saved forever and can be used against you.
Click to expand...

Clearly, yet if someone is going to be a doctor, they can probably figure out how to keep anything that would get them in trouble off their facebook.... Not that hard.
 
Carbocation1 said:
Look at what happened to Donald Sterling. His right to freedom and speech and privacy have been infringed upon. And now he lost the team despite being that freaking owner. Social media and digital footprints only make these situations more likely to occur. The thing I like a lot about medicine is that it is a conservative profession for the most part.
Click to expand...
I sense some Donald Sterling sympathy.
 
Carbocation1 said:
There is no way to have FB not save chat history as far as I know. Everything you write is saved forever and can be used against you.
Click to expand...

Unless you say racist things left and right, there should be NO ISSUES.

Don't be paranoid and relax 😀
 
Dropped mine in college. My school does have a group they discuss parties/study guides on but most of the time they are useless or I can find them on the class website. My girlfriend is a member of the group so if something important comes up she will tell me, but I would have been fine having no connection with it.
 
The only reason people get slammed for saying something online is because there is a public record of it now. Before, most people would just wince at a controversial comment and let it slide. But now, if you are a jerk, thousands of people can see you being a jerk and get really angry about it. Just don't be a jerk offline or online and you should have no worries.

Oh, and don't post stuff about patients online. No matter how "cool" their plight is.
 
I've said this before:

My social media policy is easy. Act like my mom will read anything I post on Facebook. This has, sadly, become literally true since she joined Facebook a year ago.

I think people inherently view Facebook as "personal" and part of their social life. This is where the conflict runs in because in their head they don't think it belongs in the professional domain.

Personally - I keep my Facebook "personal" in that I don't friend patients, patients families, or my bosses. But I keep it "professional" in that I don't post anything religious, political, or controversial; and I don't post any inappropriate pictures. I also max out my privacy settings.

I use twitter in a more professional capacity (i.e. I openly identify who I am and who I work for), and almost 100% of my tweets are surgery related.

I also would point out that nearly all hospitals/schools have a formal social media policy. Students and residents should familiarize themselves with it.
 
Get a Facebook at least for your class's Facebook group. You won't regret it unless you end up spending all day on it.

Besides that, people won't give a crap if you don't use Facebook. One of the most popular guys at my school, lifter/model/guido dude who was a huge party animal back in undergrad, deleted his Facebook. And we didn't ostracize him for it. He eventually remade one solely for class stuff.
 
CherryRedDracul said:
Get a Facebook at least for your class's Facebook group. You won't regret it unless you end up spending all day on it.

Besides that, people won't give a crap if you don't use Facebook. One of the most popular guys at my school, lifter/model/guido dude who was a huge party animal back in undergrad, deleted his Facebook. And we didn't ostracize him for it. He eventually remade one solely for class stuff.
Click to expand...

Cut out the model and guido part and this is totally me
 
PL198 said:
CherryRedDracul said:
Get a Facebook at least for your class's Facebook group. You won't regret it unless you end up spending all day on it.

Besides that, people won't give a crap if you don't use Facebook. One of the most popular guys at my school, lifter/model/guido dude who was a huge party animal back in undergrad, deleted his Facebook. And we didn't ostracize him for it. He eventually remade one solely for class stuff.
Click to expand...

Cut out the model and guido part and this is totally me
Click to expand...
Cut out the popular/lifter/model/quido part and this is totally me.
8qizt.jpg
 
Last edited:
I got rid of my FB account 3 years ago. I actually forgot Facebook was a still a thing, or at least didn't realize how much it was used by my peers, until I started medical school this past year. There's a handful of other people in my class who don't have FB, and we're still sociable and stay "in the loop." Friends will let you know about class events and any important study material posted on the class FB page.
 
I never knew what my assignments were, failed step 1, couldn't find a date for med school prom and had to go with my mom, always sat alone at lunch time, didn't match into a residency, got booed at graduation, and eventually had to beg for a job at Chik-Fil-A. This could all have been prevented if only I had Facebook when school started.
 
About to graduate. Never had fb MySpace instagram or any of that ****
 
Delete facebook. Build a blank account for the class group and poach study guides and such.

When I see friends I can talk to them about what is going on in our lives like a human being because we don't keep ourselves updated via facebook stati. Trust me, after a week without facebook you will realize how awesome it is to not see photos of everyone who ran a tough mudder and engagement pictures of people you havent talked to in years.
You wont fall out of the loop, and you will never have to worry about people finding a picture of you at age 19 passed out drunk.


Off topic food for thought: almost everyone in America of our generation has, or at least HAD, a facebook at some point. Somebody of our generation has to be the president, and in the near future, presidential campaigns are going to include attack ads based on past facebook posts. The future is going to be hilarious and awesome.
 
There are already huge arguments based on "twitter beef" 😛

So, it's not too far of a stretch. For the 2016 election, we can see an 30 min tirade between the two candidates going in on each other via Twitter. #libsvscons
 
southernIM said:
My social media policy is easy. Act like my mom will read anything I post on Facebook. This has, sadly, become literally true since she joined Facebook a year ago.
Click to expand...
I had to delete the mom - that was not working out at all. And they keep messing with those privacy settings.
 
Anastomoses said:
I had to delete the mom - that was not working out at all. And they keep messing with those privacy settings.
Click to expand...

Yeah. My parents both have FB but I said to them when they made accounts (after I had one for a couple years) that I was not going to accept their friend requests. I realized FB was messing with my privacy settings when my dad started showing me my profile pictures one day (because one of my uncles was sharing each of my profile pictures on HIS facebook, even though we weren't friends).

The only people that are related to me and are friends with me on facebook are all in the same generation I am (siblings and cousins). The only person that I've friended outside of my generation lives on the other side of the world and is 2 degrees of separation from my mother.

All this being said, I know that FB is basically public. I untag anything that is horribly offensive, and periodically purge my timeline of less than savory things.
 
evilbooyaa said:
Yeah. My parents both have FB but I said to them when they made accounts (after I had one for a couple years) that I was not going to accept their friend requests. I realized FB was messing with my privacy settings when my dad started showing me my profile pictures one day (because one of my uncles was sharing each of my profile pictures on HIS facebook, even though we weren't friends).

The only people that are related to me and are friends with me on facebook are all in the same generation I am (siblings and cousins). The only person that I've friended outside of my generation lives on the other side of the world and is 2 degrees of separation from my mother.

All this being said, I know that FB is basically public. I untag anything that is horribly offensive, and periodically purge my timeline of less than savory things.
Click to expand...
wow. somebody sounds like he's having even more fun than I am!

Mostly I unfriended my mother and sister when I was in a serious relationship last year and posted an album of "male models that need to be detained for my arrival" and they individually sent private messages about how inappropriate it was if my partner saw it (which he obviously saw it). Plus the time my mother asked "how much the maroon dress cost". That wasn't inappropriate, right?
 
Anastomoses said:
wow. somebody sounds like he's having even more fun than I am!

Mostly I unfriended my mother and sister when I was in a serious relationship last year and posted an album of "male models that need to be detained for my arrival" and they individually sent private messages about how inappropriate it was if my partner saw it (which he obviously saw it). Plus the time my mother asked "how much the maroon dress cost". That wasn't inappropriate, right?
Click to expand...

Your sister too? I guess, based on her PM. I'm guessing an older (likely married) sister, because I couldn't imagine that a younger sister would be as conservative as your mother.

As for your mother - I mean the comment itself is kind of innocuous. That being said, I'm a guy, so 1) my mother wouldn't ask me that, and 2) if she did, I'd be like, "These shorts cost like 10 bucks". I imagine the dress your mother was referencing to is slightly more pricey than that.
 
Anastomoses said:
wow. somebody sounds like he's having even more fun than I am!

Mostly I unfriended my mother and sister when I was in a serious relationship last year and posted an album of "male models that need to be detained for my arrival" and they individually sent private messages about how inappropriate it was if my partner saw it (which he obviously saw it). Plus the time my mother asked "how much the maroon dress cost". That wasn't inappropriate, right?
Click to expand...

I've strongly considered unfriending my parents...but I think it would cause too much family drama
 
evilbooyaa said:
As for your mother - I mean the comment itself is kind of innocuous. That being said, I'm a guy, so 1) my mother wouldn't ask me that, and 2) if she did, I'd be like, "These shorts cost like 10 bucks". I imagine the dress your mother was referencing to is slightly more pricey than that.
Click to expand...
the male models were clothed even - they thought it was saucy to make an album of boys. and yeah...it was a NYE pic and she was implying that I'm dropping hundreds on dresses. The good news is this is the most drama I've had in 6 years of FB.

I always hear the phrase FB drama but I don't even know how that happens.
 
gebor said:
I have never been into social media. I am planning to go to school out of state and will know no one. Is it worth it to make an account or will people just think im a creep because I just made an account and have no friends, comments on it.

Is it weird to not have a facebook? Or is it on the way out?
Click to expand...

Facebook is useful for communicating with your classmates. Don't feel pressured to use Facebook as a social tool if it doesn't appeal to you.

However, if you do make a Facebook account, no one will think it's creepy that you have no Facebook friends. In fact, they probably won't notice. Many people use social media in medical school just to see what's on the class' facebook group.
 
southernIM said:
Oh no we are on great terms. It's more that my mom tends to comment on every single thing I post.
Click to expand...
There's nothing wrong with that. She's your mother and she's proud of you. 🙂
 
I will be a first year this year and I just made a facebook 2 months ago. I only have about 60 friends so far which is a little embarrassing when everyone else has hundreds. Overall I am happy with the decision to take the plunge. The class facebook page is updated frequently with helpful info. It's also useful to suss out the cute girls before school starts 😛 I felt there was a stigma in college against people who don't use facebook (that you're antisocial or something), and I didn't want that in medical school.
 
GoPelicans said:
I will be a first year this year and I just made a facebook 2 months ago. I only have about 60 friends so far which is a little embarrassing when everyone else has hundreds. Overall I am happy with the decision to take the plunge. The class facebook page is updated frequently with helpful info. It's also useful to suss out the cute girls before school starts 😛 I felt there was a stigma in college against people who don't use facebook (that you're antisocial or something), and I didn't want that in medical school.
Click to expand...

lol no one cares if you're on facebook anymore, the fad is over
The number of friends looks good if someone else looks at it but it's really a meaningless number. Don't worry about it. I have over 500 but talk to maybe 10
 
Carbocation1 said:
I feel like it is very easy to have an FB account as a student but things get complicated once you start ascending the ladder. Imagine you become Chief Dr and people can see what you have posted or written. Does this not deteriorate the amount of respect they will show you? Also, you have to be really careful with what you say. People can take you down and badmouth you. I just feel like privacy supersedes sharing and all that crap.
Click to expand...
that awkward moment when your biocell teacher comments a pic of yours.
 
Psai said:
lol no one cares if you're on facebook anymore, the fad is over
The number of friends looks good if someone else looks at it but it's really a meaningless number. Don't worry about it. I have over 500 but talk to maybe 10
Click to expand...
After all does anyone really have 2800 friends (The maximum number of friends one of my "friends" has).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

penguinspenguins
Med twitter making certain specialties harder to get into?
2
Replies
67
Views
7K
deleted1023831
D
F
  • Locked
Social Media etiquette/protocols?
2 3
Replies
100
Views
7K
gyngyn
gyngyn
U
USC Radiology Residency Q&A Twitter Chat 9/3/2020 - Send us your questions!
Replies
0
Views
1K
USC Radiology R2
U
D
Is having a public twitter account as a med student a bad idea?
2
Replies
50
Views
7K
WinslowPringle
W
S
  • Locked
New Facebook group-Female Future Physicians
2
Replies
79
Views
5K
dyachei
dyachei
Top