Social media guidance

Social media guidance codes issued by various professional bodies

• Civil Servants

Cabinet Office social media guidance for civil servants (May 2012)

• Dentists – General Dental Council guidance on using social media

  Professional guidance for dentists (September 2013)

• Doctors and medical students – British Medical Association – Using social media: practical and ethical guidance for doctors and medical students

  This guidance received a lot of adverse publicity and comment (and even ridicule) when published for two reasons: first, it seemed out of touch with how social  media now works and how doctors and students use it now; and secondly it said that doctors “should” use their real name when using social media as a doctor. The latter guidance has been interpreted by some as being a ban on pseudonymous accounts (meaning we’ve lost some interesting voices from for instance twitter) whilst others have continued to use them. As such, this guidance shows the stultifying effects of poor social media guidance. (April 2013)

• Family doctors – Royal College of General Practitioners Social Media Highway Code

  Practical, helpful guidance for GPs with examples of what’s acceptable and what’s not. In contrast to the BMA guidance, these guidelines are seen as helpful and practical. (Feb 2013)

• Health and care professionals

Guidance from the Health and Care Professionals Council (2014)

• NHS quick guide for new starters

“New to the NHS? Your guide to using social media in the NHS” (November 2014)

• NHS Stoke on Trent Digital Health

Social media etiquette – Professional use of social media – some do’s and don’ts

• NHS employers – A social media toolkit for the NHS

“Download our free toolkit, complete the worksheets and fill in our sample policies and processes to quickly develop an effective social media strategy in under two hours that matches your organisation’s goals and objectives”  (March 2014)

• Nurses and midwives – Nursing and Midwifery Council social media guidelines

  Guidance for nurses, midwives and students (June 2012)

• Police – Guidelines on the Safe use of the Internet and Social Media by Police Officers and Police Staff (2013)

• Psychologists – British Psychological Society guidance on the use of social media (2012) and Supplementary guidance on the use of social media (2012) and pp19-20 BPS Practice Guidelines (August 2017)

• Solicitors – Law Society guidance on social media

  Guidance for solicitors (December 2011)

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