Promoting the Healthy and Safe Use of Social Media

Abstract

Social media use is a topic that affects every stage of health supervision, from before birth to adulthood. Health care professionals should understand the benefits and risks involved with social media use in the families they serve. This theme explores various types of social media use that a health care professional should be prepared to discuss with families during all preventive visits, from the prenatal period through young adulthood. Social media are the latest representation of all media and have an ever-increasing effect on communication, interpersonal relations, development, and health. Traditional media, such as television (TV), movies, and games, are discussed in Bright Futures Health Supervision Visits. Social media are Web sites or applications that allow users to create and share content and to interact with other users. There are numerous types of social media sites and applications, and more are always being developed. Through social media, people share information about themselves, share links to content, create written content (eg, blogs), upload video or audio content, comment on content, engage in conversations around topics, play games, organize events or movements, and otherwise connect with other people.