Why State Podiatry Societies Should Be Using Social Media More

After attending the Pennsylvania Podiatric Medical Association House of Delegates (#PPMAHOD17), I saw our society pushing to integrate social media use into its daily operations. Specifically, this happened through a new Twitter account (@PPMAssoc). The association’s goals in establishing this included: profession and society awareness; marketing (i.e., the society, upcoming conferences, member accomplishments); and dissemination of information to state members. I thought this was a great idea and, just like other conference-goers, immediately followed the account.

Curious to see how other state podiatric societies integrate social media in order to see ways in which our state society could improve, I performed my own podiatric state society audit when I got home from the conference. I was shocked to discover only 14 of the 50 state podiatric societies plus the District of Columbia had state society Twitter accounts with well over half of the states not having any social media platform presence across the many potential social media outlets (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube).

As we look to the future of our profession in an attempt to grow — whether it is by the number of school applicants, residents and number of programs to decrease the shortage deficit, increasing society (state and national) membership, or increasing public awareness — having a strong online presence is important. Just as Andrew Schneider, DPM, discussed in his Podiatry Today article last month, using other online media platforms can help build greater traffic to your practice or hit different patient demographics.¹

Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook provide quick and inexpensive ways to build a network, whether personal or digital. The use of these social networks can build brands and movements in society. The field of podiatry could improve on its social media presence in Twitter but generally speaking, improvements could happen across all forms of social media. With less than a third of all state podiatric societies having a Twitter account, adoption of this platform is an excellent start to build awareness. Through social media integration, we can build a brand not just for the particular state’s podiatric society but also the field of podiatry (i.e., the “podiatry” or “foot and ankle surgeon” brand) in order to increase awareness in the field, and all we do as we look to solidify the established presence and build our future.

Question for Discussion:

What method of social media does your practice use the most?

(a) Facebook, (b) Twitter, (c) LinkedIn, (d) Do not use social media

Dr. Hood is a fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeon. Follow him on Twitter at @crhoodjrdpm.

Reference

1. Schneider A. Keys to maintaining your practice’s website. Podiatry Today. 2017; 30(6):70–71.