An assessment of professionalism on students’ Facebook profiles

Abstract

IntroductionWith the advent of social media, healthcare professionals not only need to be conscious of professionalism in their face‐to‐face interactions but also in the electronic environment. The aim of this study was to assess the level of online professionalism on Facebook profiles available for public viewing of students from a dental school.Materials and methodsA search was performed via a new Facebook account of all students in the University Dental School (dental hygiene, dental nursing, dental science and dental technology). Profiles were categorised as ‘private’ or ‘public’. Demographic details and photographs/comments of unprofessional behaviour were recorded for each individual Facebook profile. Each profile was subsequently scored with regard to professionalism based on a previously published score.ResultsThere are a total of 287 students in the dental school. Of these, 62% (n = 177) had a Facebook account. Three per cent (n = 6) had a public account (fully accessible) whilst 97% (n = 171) had a private account (limited access); 36% (n = 63) of students mentioned the dental school/hospital on their profile; 34% (n = 60) had questionable content on their profile whilst 3% (n = 6) had definite violations of professionalism on their profile; and 25% (n = 44) had unprofessional photographs on their profile. Of those with unprofessional content, 52% (n = 23) of these had a documented affiliation with the dental school also visible on their profile.ConclusionThere was a concerning level of unprofessional content visible on students’ Facebook profiles. Students need to be fully aware of their professional responsibility in the setting of social media.

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