Social Networking 101 for Physicians

Be Aware That You’re Never Truly Anonymous on The Web

In 2007, a Boston-area pediatrician, known as “Dr. Flea,” blogged about his ongoing med-mal defense, sharing candid musings on defense strategy, the jury, opposing counsel and the plaintiff’s case.  He thought everything was safely cloaked in anonymity until his cross-examination at trial, when plaintiff’s counsel – who had been following the blog and noting similarities – outed him to the jury. The case settled the next day.

Szabo says this is a cautionary tale that anything posted on the web can be traced back, with severe consequences. “When you start throwing in little details, if you have any connection to someone, it may not be too tough for that person to figure out who you are,” he says. he adds that anything you write on Twitter or your blog is indexed by Google and kept permanently. “So never write anything disparaging about your hospital, patients or other doctors, because it can be found,” he says.

Further, Szabo warns that Internet service providers, websites and social-networking companies are under no obligation to resist subpoenas in a civil lawsuit. Accordingly, they might decide to produce information like an IP address or e-mail address that could identify the name of a person who posted offending content.

Finally, says Tobin, the existence of vehicles like Facebook and Twitter does not change existing copyright, slander and libel laws. We’re under the same restrictions we’ve always been under,” he says. “The only difference is that saying something is much easier. You can send a tweet or a Facebook status update in seconds. So you need to pause and think before you hit that ‘update’ button.”   

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