Along with UC Berkeley Haas doctoral student Farnam Mohebi and UC Berkeley Sociology doctoral student Colby Fortin, I am conducting a mixed methods study of physicians on social media platforms, beginning with depth interviews.
The use of media by physicians to share knowledge and connect with the public is not a new phenomenon. However, the emergence of social media has fundamentally transformed physician-public interactions from a one-way flow of information to a two-way communication.
Physicians have established a distinct presence as content creators within the rapidly evolving domain of social media. This evolution highlights a critical intersection of healthcare, technology, and market dynamics, where physicians provide novel forms of access to medical information that can be used to commodify the audience’s healthcare attention in a non-traditional way and reshape their healthcare behaviors. We are embarking on an in-depth exploration of how these physician influencers navigate the burgeoning sphere of social media with a focus on the economic and political implications of their digital engagement. How do physicians reconcile their professional commitments with their digital personas in the context of market and political pressures? What is the role and influence of healthcare organizations on physicians’ engagement with social media? And what implications does their online activity have for maintaining or enhancing physicians’ professional autonomy and authority in an environment flooded with diverse health information?
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