23 Midwifery News Autumn 2011 IT and midwives Midwives are becoming more engaged with social media and electronic communications in both their professional and personal lives. We explore some of the pitfalls, precautions and powerful possibilities that social media offers to midwives in this article by Carolyn Hastie. Social media and midwifery Midwives love networking – whether sitting in the tea room, hanging out at the desk, having dinner out with colleagues or catching up at midwifery conferences, workshops and meetings. The buzz of midwives conversations and laughter is inevitable. The move to using social media as a way to stay in touch and keep connected has become easy for midwives. What is social media? The term “social media” is an umbrella term that covers the multiple ways that technology is used for social interaction. Social media differs from traditional media, such as newspapers, television and radio; in that anyone using mobile and web-based technologies can publish and receive information at any time. Real time interactive dialogue enables the co-creation of meaning and value of all aspects of social life – perfect for a socially-based profession such as midwifery. Forms of social media Mobile and web based technologies take many forms. The main forms used by midwives are: Email, Texting, Forums, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, Ning, Wikis, OneTrueMedia and YouTube. Wikipedia has an extensive categorised list of social media. There are links on the Wikipedia page to an explanatory note about each modality. Google ‘social media’ and you will be amazed with what comes up for you to explore. Uses of social media Social media offers a means through which people can post their experiences as they go about their activities and enables their followers and/or friends to be updated instantaneously. You will be familiar with email and texting, so I won’t go into those tools in this article. Most of you will be familiar with Facebook Midwives and social media too. Midwives who engage with social media tend to use Facebook as their social network platform, sharing their lives and their photos. Some midwives also use LinkedIn, a platform used by business owners and other professionals. The microblogging site, Twitter, is popular with midwives too but most of them are from the USA. Apart from social networking and updating friends on daily/hourly activities, social media is an excellent tool for raising awareness about issues, sharing information and organising events. As recent world events have demonstrated, one of social media’s most powerful roles is in mobilising community support for political and/or public interest issues. When the Gold Coast Birth Centre was threatened with closure in 2010, a massive campaign was launched on Facebook and Twitter to inform people that closure was imminent. The social media campaign culminated in a well-publicised rally, traditional media became involved and the birth centre remains open. Facebook and Twitter were used effectively as both official and unofficial sources of news and information during the Queensland floods at the beginning of 2011. The immediacy and success of that social media intervention dramatically increased the profile of social media for both government and the general public. Ning is a useful social networking site for groups as it is password protected and requires moderation to enable access. You will find midwifery, birth and parent related communities on Ning. Another popular social media tool is blogging. Many midwives blog. The word ‘blog’ is the contraction of “Web log” and is a website which functions as an open online journal maintained by an individual. The blog owner, or an invited guest, writes Get your daily dose of social media Carolyn Hastie