Imaging professionals' views of social media and its implications

To help radiation sciences students and professionals understand the implications of and best practices for personal postings on social media Web sites.

The authors conducted a survey to capture radiologic science professionals' opinions regarding trends related to using social media for employment, as well as for their personal use.

The majority of imaging professionals are mindful of their privacy settings and believe their activity on social media sites reflects on them professionally.

Participants in this study noted they maintain high privacy settings. In spite of this, both supervisors and nonsupervisors in this study held opinions about the use of social media in employment decisions that are inconsistent with what can occur in the workplace. Survey respondents did not believe there should be employment sanctions for behaviors that routinely are sanctioned in the workplace.

An important message that has emerged from this research is that employees should not only adhere to the strictest privacy settings on their personal social media sites, but they also should be judicious in what they choose to share, with the understanding that nothing posted online is truly private. Supervisors and nonsupervisors should become familiar with their institutional policies regarding the use of social media in the workplace, and supervisors specifically should ensure that they follow institutional policy regarding the use of social media in employment decisions.