Facebook: Healthy Pastime or Unhealthy Distraction?
Love it or loathe it, it looks like facebook is here to say. Elizabeth Leyland discusses how this latest social network phenomenon could affect medical practice
Raging across the globe with alarming speed, the spread of Facebook shows no signs of stopping. It has been doubling its users every six months and now has more than 55 million worldwide. (1) Perhaps worryingly, even medical students are susceptible to its highly contagious charms. Having signed up as a half-hearted sceptic eighteen months ago, I now find myself craving a daily Facebook fix. Should there be a role for Facebook in the life of a medical student? Don’t we poke innocent victims quite enough when practising examinations, without subjecting people to unlimited Facebook poking? I launched an investigation to determine whether social networking is predominantly positive or destructive. I began my research by checking my Facebook page.
Considering computers’ tendency to encourage isolated activity, it is somewhat ironic that Facebook describes itself as a ‘social networking’ website. (2) Social, because it centres on personal profiles that reveal information ranging from religion to favourite music. Networking, because users search for people and ‘add’ them to their list of ‘friends’. ‘Facebooking’ - the verb ‘to Facebook’ is surely not far from the dictionary - flows freely, with the exchange of messages, wall posts, photographs and pokes. The virtual world of Facebook may sound like a trivial magnet for wannabe celebrities, a harmless flirting device or a worrying stalking aid. Perhaps it is all of these, but is there more to it than that?
At a simple level, Facebook can spark new friendships with fellow medical students. It offers an easy way to identify and contact large groups of people - all the medical students in a particular year, for example. It deserves some credit for being a freely available source of relaxation and entertainment. I can vouch for its ample supply of distractions and apparently unlimited potential for wasting time. ‘Discussions’ are a quick and effective means of communication. Virtual invitations are a paper-saving way to promote extra-curricular activities.
There are plenty of Facebook support groups offering valuable history-taking techniques, revision tips and practise questions.(3) Educational material can be shared in an instant with anyone in the world. Many other websites offer similar social networking possibilities. (4) LinkedIn, for example, describes itself as a “professional network” (5) and might therefore be better suited to work-related communication.
On a much wider scale, the success of Facebook illustrates the power of forming links and building relationships. Facebook is a giant network of people, held together by mutual friends. There are also networks in the ‘real’ world: healthcare professionals form multi-disciplinary teams; patients with chronic illnesses join community support networks of people with the same condition; and communication networks play a vital role in public health promotion. The Facebook microcosm theoretically reflects the strength and security offered by a supportive healthcare network. In practice, Facebook use is neither intended nor appreciated in this light.
Facebook is very much about socialising. It may offer a channel for frivolous gossip, but it also generates inter-personal interactions. Even polite chitchat is arguably healthier than no communication at all. Facebook does not teach users the health benefits of socialising, but at least it encourages it. Having said that, using Facebook involves sitting in a chair, staring at a screen and engaging in virtual social behaviour. It is hardly equivalent to networking at a party and it is a long way from fulfilling the role of face-to-face communication. Doctors cannot take a history via a quick Facebook message, because online conversations are a poor substitute for real-life encounters. Using Facebook can sadly therefore not be justified as communication skills training.
There is advertising on Facebook, which reflects a commercially driven form of networking more intrusive than a typical letter or telephone call. Signing up to the site is free, but computers are financially and environmentally costly. They also have associated health ‘costs’, including risk of ‘computer vision syndrome’ and problems arising from physical inactivity. (7) Facebook use can easily spiral out of control and become dangerously preoccupying. Medical students should understand the nature of addiction, but do not need to experience it.
Facebook’s potentially addictive properties are fuelled by its constant supply of news. Although privacy settings allow users to moderate how much information is visible online, personal details are easily made quite public and accessible. There is room for unwanted voyeurism or accidental exposure. Facebook photographs of drunken doctors could have disastrous consequences if seen by patients or colleagues.
‘Social’ and ‘networking’ are two key terms in healthcare. ‘Social networking’ is not as medically relevant, but it has such appeal that I have idled away many a revision opportunity in favour of a spot of Facebooking. It may have been unsociable and isolating, but it made me feel like part of a supportive social network. I was not doing any work myself, but at least I was able to explore the lives of other people in the same predicament. Facebook is an easy-to-use, cheap, popular distraction. If it becomes a replacement for face-to-face conversations or a medium for exchanging inappropriate information it can be hugely destructive. It is not necessarily harmless fun, but in moderation Facebook can be a healthy addition to the life of a medical student.
Elizabeth Leyland
Fourth Year medical student
University of Leeds, UK
lizleyland@hotmail.com
(1) Facebook Press Information, www.facebook.com/press.php
(2) About Facebook, http://leedsac.facebook.com/about.php
(3) Search ‘medicine revision’ on Facebook, for example, for a host of helpful relevant groups
(4) MySpace, orkut, LinkedIn, Bebo - to name but a few
(5) What is LinkedIn?, www.linkedin.com/static?key=what_is_linkedin&trk=ghdr_whatis
(6) NR Biswas, SK Nainiwal, GK Das, U Langan, SC Dadeya, PK Mongre, AK Ravi, P Baidya, Comparative randomised controlled clinical trial of a herbal eye drop with artificial tear and placebo in computer vision syndrome, Journal of the Indian Medical Association 2003; 101(3), 208-9, 212
(7) Fotheringham MJ, Wonnacott RL, Owen N. Computer use and physical inactivity in young adults: public health perils and potentials of new information technologies. Ann Behav Med 2000; 22(4):269-75
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