Future of Facebook in Nursing Education

A summary of the past six weeks of information will launch a look into the future use of Facebook (FB) in nursing education. First, FB, one of the hundreds of social networking (SN) Web 2.0 tools available, is free, easy to set up and use, has high security standards, good technical support and is accessible globally by phone. It is an excellent mode to reach traditionally under-served members of the population, as even in Kenya, a refurbished phone costs only $5.
Technology and globalization have permeated our health care system and are challenging our traditional ways of communication and education in health care. With this availability comes the new opportunity to share health information in new and broader measures. Statistics suggest at least 63% of adults check a SN profile site at least every few days. The opportunity to reach these folk with health education is only limited by our time and creativity. Two important things to remember in using technology for communication: a web tool does not fulfill all health communication needs and a web tool must not replace other ways of communication with patients, students or colleagues. SN and FB are just tools to enhance the communication process.
This said, SN and FB do have a place in nursing education. FB can be a media tool to incorporate care into the faculty-student relationship through being informed of birthdays, daily activities and interests of the students. Faculty can develop organization pages to share resources on specific courses with one another or to develop student group participation in directed topic discussions, use as an announcement page, or upload study helps. I have a personal interest in enabling persons to access up-to-date health information in the non-western world, specifically in the bush of Kenya. An organization page through my FB site would give credibility to the information, as I have built a relationship with the community there, and could be a resource of up-to-date culturally appropriate information on a specific disease. Also, an organization page could be a more personal support outreach resource to worldwide missionaries. As internet availability has expanded communication to the corners of the world, they could share information on diseases they are encountering in their areas, ideas on care, and not feel so isolated on a personal level in health care issues.
Specifically to the opportunities in nursing education, PRESENT is an excellent example of how nurses could come together to use the internet as a daily resource to strengthen our profession as a whole. Delisio (2009) reports on PRESENT, a podiatry site that is "at the forefront of the current movement that is bringing Facebook-style social networking features to online CME medical education. Beyond CME opportunities, they have online lectures, pre-tests and post-tests, podcasts, e-discussions, case studies. Specifically for their diabetic foot care, 18% of current site users are nurses. This innovative educational concept is an example of how SN can provide information broadly and be used to encourage health care teams to learn together. This is an inspiration to me to think creatively about how nursing education can embrace these tools to better care for those in our care. I hope it has challenged you as well.

Why Social Networking and Facebook?

Added to the resources this week are two short YouTube videos that will challenge your bias toward social networking (SN).  One is of millennials (those born 1983 to 2003) speaking from their perspective about how organizations can reach out to them and engage them.  I was surprised at the responses referring to social media (though I am not a millennial!)  The other is a fast paced video of visual blasting statistics on the amazing progression of technology in the past 5 to 10 years.  Amazing!  One that captured my attention specifically showed the contrast of traditional media such as newspaper and basic television, over the many years it has existed, compared to the impact of social media such as facebook (FB), myspace, twitter, podcast in only the past six years!  Yes, FB was conceptualized six short years ago by Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg and friends.

Contrast these video images to these photos, taken just last week in the Rift Valley of Kenya.  Samuel, a young, millennial Maasai man, educated through high school, is living now in his traditional village area.  Yet, he has a smart phone and watched on FB, from across the globe, for instant updates throughout the day of his dear friend's wedding ( my son) events in Bristol, TN!   Benjamin, a traditional Maasai herdsman, has been FB my husband for months helping make arrangements for this current trip.

Technology and globalization are here.  Technology has come fast, moves fast, and is challenging all corners of our daily life, especially education.  Just to know the correct technological term to use may have changed from yesterday, let alone the information base we can access today that we could not access yesterday.  Where will this take education, health education, nursing education?

Can you believe 175 million people log on Facebook each day, ages 13 and up?  Though this may not be our non-millennial favored venue for health education with patients or staff or students, it is a resource of unlimited potential, worldwide.   Aja (2000) speaks of traditional social networks, those among his Igbo tribe in Nigeria, bound together by community identity, age groups, and kinship seeking resources for suffering members after the tragidies of the civil war.  Traditional social networking is among the people, of the people and for the people.  Why SN and FB?  Technology is here, it is global and it is the modern media.  Though I do not believe modern media will replace traditional social networks, SN is of this generation.  FB is simple, cost effective, and utilized daily.  Nurse educators, let's get creative and educate 175 million people a day!

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Social Networking: Advantages and Weaknesses

     With a spirit of interest, scavenger hunting, caution and intuition, I invite you to learn more of the world of social networking (SN).  First, in summary of the published views from the previous post using web-based non-scholarly sources, the advantages of SN to the user include: unlimited topics of interests available, joining folk with common interests, diversity of users secondary to global access, reconnecting with or making new friends, free of charge, and instant update capability.  Some overall weaknesses include potential for: data theft, virus sharing, and predator access.  Specific to the Web 2.0 tool Facebook, users can foster existing relationships worldwide in a cyber-environment which is accessible by phone and the site has high security standards, custom privacy settings, technical support and accommodates RSS, photos, music and video.  A specific weakness in Facebook is the lack of customization options for site design.
     With this said, let's move on to another specific use of this tool for the goal of this blog investigation: using the SN tool Facebook as a means of health communication.  Expanding the use of SN as a viable tool within the academic networking (AN) community is practical because of the above advantages to its use and the support by scholarly research (note blog page for resources).  This week I will summarize two of the articles, Chou et al. (2009) and Hanson et al. (2008).
     69% of US adults have access to the Internet and 23% use a social networking site (Chou et al., (2009).  New opportunities abound for sharing health information addressing endless topics.  Though the younger generation is the highest user of SN, all generations are increasing usage.  Chou et al. (2009) research found "social media outlet may represent an excellent opportunity to reach traditionally underserved members of the population" with consumer health informatics.  This new media outlet gives ownership of information to the searcher, offers open access to information, is easily published, promotes collaboration and does not need to rely on media gatekeepers for publicity.  Both articles stressed two negatives: potential for errant information and continued disparities in who can access information secondary to those who do not have internet access.  A caution for promoting internet health information is "the internet is not a panacea for all health communication needs" ( Hanson et al., 2008, p. 158).  Specifically in using Facebook for AN, two way interaction leads to clarity of information.  With careful integration of SN, AN, and health education, exciting opportunities are available for reliable patient information.