boogiedownprod Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 hey! im entering medical school and trying to decide what i want to do with my twitter. my twitter is not directly linked to my name, but its easy to tell its mine because i have photos of myself up. its not a professional account: i occassionally post explicit language, poke fun at things, and express strong political views. i enjoy twitter for this purpose, but i can also see myself using it for a more professional purpose as well. im trying to decide what to do with it, considering the professionalism that is important as a med student. would i be able to keep it as is? should i shut it down completely? should i remove my photos and and anonoymize that account, and make a separate professional one? i could use some advice and some precedence. finally, i also enjoy producing art/media. its important for me to be able to express strong/radical political views through this, and sometimes that also involves explicit language. however, i dont want this to jeopardize my future as a doctor. i would like to make my things publicly available. so i guess this question is, how much freedom do doctors/med students have to express their political views and push the traditional boundaries of "professionalism"? thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 For someone to identify your twitter account as yours through nothing but pictures could only really happen coincidentally. If there's really no way for someone to trace the account to you from anything other than the pics on it, then I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you're still paranoid, you can just make your account private. Only the people following you will be able to see your posts. Alternatively, if you want your posts publicly available for everyone to see, just remove your pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmatt1122 Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Might be worth a read: http://www.cfms.org/attachments/article/995/CFMS%20Guide%20to%20Social%20Media%20Professionalism.pdf Each person is going to have to draw their line somewhere. When it comes to CaRMS, a PD could look you up, see that explicit art, and think 'nah, I'd rather not have this person in my program'... or they could think 'wow, that's cool, I love it, sign me up'. For now I'd probably prefer not to be publicly tied to anything overly controversial/polarizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Might be worth a read: http://www.cfms.org/attachments/article/995/CFMS%20Guide%20to%20Social%20Media%20Professionalism.pdf Ughhh. That is all I will say because I'm now a student professional. Here is a quote I will add from this document with no further comment. " Acceptable satire". I will not be satirizing this document, because I don't know if it will be acceptable. I have no opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmatt1122 Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Ughhh. That is all I will say because I'm now a student professional. Here is a quote I will add from this document with no further comment. " Acceptable satire". I will not be satirizing this document, because I don't know if it will be acceptable. I have no opinions. Haha. I sympathize. Back in the Fall a Schulich Associate Dean started following me on Twitter, which is when I started to realize the professional impacts of social media, I guess. You have to treat it as if anyone (including professional contacts, personal friends, the media, etc) can see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 You never know when your internet past will catch up with you. http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/alberta-mla-ousted-from-ndp-caucus-over-photo-1.2386306 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogiedownprod Posted May 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 thanks for the posts everyone, they are all helpful. the conclusion i've come to is that im gonna close this account and make a professional one. i wont shy from my strong political opinions, ill just stop sharing random things. no point sharing stuff for favs or retweets that doesn't contribute nothing to anyone. and if i miss cracking jokes ill just open a different twitter account.i wanna clarify the post about the PD though. i didnt realize carms matching happens with a PD (what does that stand for?). so is your personality a big factor in where you get your residency? do you apply to specific hospitals/work environments or just to schools? would appreciate a link/info about this stuff! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 thanks for the posts everyone, they are all helpful. the conclusion i've come to is that im gonna close this account and make a professional one. i wont shy from my strong political opinions, ill just stop sharing random things. no point sharing stuff for favs or retweets that doesn't contribute nothing to anyone. and if i miss cracking jokes ill just open a different twitter account. i wanna clarify the post about the PD though. i didnt realize carms matching happens with a PD (what does that stand for?). so is your personality a big factor in where you get your residency? do you apply to specific hospitals/work environments or just to schools? would appreciate a link/info about this stuff! thanks! PD = program director You apply to schools, but personality is a big factor in that reference letters and electives are important, and programs are looking to see if you'll fit in with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpasticMegacolon Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 thanks for the posts everyone, they are all helpful. the conclusion i've come to is that im gonna close this account and make a professional one. i wont shy from my strong political opinions, ill just stop sharing random things. no point sharing stuff for favs or retweets that doesn't contribute nothing to anyone. and if i miss cracking jokes ill just open a different twitter account. i wanna clarify the post about the PD though. i didnt realize carms matching happens with a PD (what does that stand for?). so is your personality a big factor in where you get your residency? do you apply to specific hospitals/work environments or just to schools? would appreciate a link/info about this stuff! thanks! Probably the correct option. I got paranoid a while back and made a "professional" (still kind of juvenile) twitter, and anonymized/restricted my ridiculous account. Still, completely removing it is probably even smarter, although anything you have tweeted in the past is theoretically permanently out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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