Social media is increasingly becoming a more popular platform to showcase your professional identity and get your name noticed in the OT world. Qualified OT's are using various social media apps including Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest and Youtube to show their knowledge. We as student OT's should be taking advantage of this globalisation.
It may have been drummed into you that it isn't professional to go on social media or that all it is good for is uploading pictures of your wild freshers nights out but this is no longer the case people!
These are our four main reasons you should love social media in the professional world:
It may have been drummed into you that it isn't professional to go on social media or that all it is good for is uploading pictures of your wild freshers nights out but this is no longer the case people!
These are our four main reasons you should love social media in the professional world:
1) Build connections- Social media can give you the opportunity to network with some brilliant OT's who are established in their respected fields of practice. Most of these OT's will be happy to answer any questions you have, so give them a tweet!
2) Maintain connections- Social media can offer you an easy option to keep in contact with other student OT's or OT's that you meet on your OT journey. If you meet an exhibitor at the COT annual conference and have an interesting discussion with them, keep in contact- the OT world is a small one so it's beneficial to make good connections.
3) Get involved- Social media are hot boxes for OT related discussions, so why not get involved and make your presence known in the OT world! There are some extremely passionate OT's and student OT's on social media sites who discuss pertinent issues, you can talk to thousands of them in real time, the days of waiting for the occasional email to grace your inbox are no more!
4) Develop knowledge- All of the social media sites can give you an opportunity to increase your knowledge- if you follow the right people (but more about that later). Many qualified OT's post useful interventions for various conditions on Pinterest, informational videos on Youtube or share current research on Twitter. So instead of binge watching video's of Beyoncé why not swap it for some equally talented musicians like these guys-
2) Maintain connections- Social media can offer you an easy option to keep in contact with other student OT's or OT's that you meet on your OT journey. If you meet an exhibitor at the COT annual conference and have an interesting discussion with them, keep in contact- the OT world is a small one so it's beneficial to make good connections.
3) Get involved- Social media are hot boxes for OT related discussions, so why not get involved and make your presence known in the OT world! There are some extremely passionate OT's and student OT's on social media sites who discuss pertinent issues, you can talk to thousands of them in real time, the days of waiting for the occasional email to grace your inbox are no more!
4) Develop knowledge- All of the social media sites can give you an opportunity to increase your knowledge- if you follow the right people (but more about that later). Many qualified OT's post useful interventions for various conditions on Pinterest, informational videos on Youtube or share current research on Twitter. So instead of binge watching video's of Beyoncé why not swap it for some equally talented musicians like these guys-
Our main social media platform is Twitter, so here are five useful tips for building your professional profile
1) Think before you tweet
2) Don't be an egg
3) Straight to the point bio
4) Is it a professional or personal profile?
5) Don't put anything you wouldn't want the world to see... Once it's published there is no going back!
6) Finally- have fun with it for example create a new and interesting hashtag everyday #OTTAboutOTisTheBestBlogEver
1) Think before you tweet
2) Don't be an egg
3) Straight to the point bio
4) Is it a professional or personal profile?
5) Don't put anything you wouldn't want the world to see... Once it's published there is no going back!
6) Finally- have fun with it for example create a new and interesting hashtag everyday #OTTAboutOTisTheBestBlogEver
There are thousands of OT's on twitter- so do some searching. Here's a list to start you off:
@BAOTCOT - Yes our professional body British Association and College of Occupational Therapists has a twitter page and it should definitely be followed! Keep up to date on guidelines, research and OT movements. Others who represent the COT can also be found by following this page.
@COTstudents- Is the twitter feed from our professional body but specifically designed for us
@AOTAInc - Read about OT across the sea by following the official page for the American Occupational Therapy Association
@thewfot - Keep up to date on movements by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, great for seeing the global impact of OT!
@OTalk_ - Hold tweetchats on Tuesdays 8-9pm UK time. The discussions are always interesting, attracting nationwide and international OT's and student OT's.
@BillWongOT - Is the king of the OT social media twitter world! Anything interesting that's current in the OT world Bill is tweeting about it or retweeting it.
And of course ourselves @kellyhiscox and @LucyTilden
Love.
Kelly & Lucy
@COTstudents- Is the twitter feed from our professional body but specifically designed for us
@AOTAInc - Read about OT across the sea by following the official page for the American Occupational Therapy Association
@thewfot - Keep up to date on movements by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, great for seeing the global impact of OT!
@OTalk_ - Hold tweetchats on Tuesdays 8-9pm UK time. The discussions are always interesting, attracting nationwide and international OT's and student OT's.
@BillWongOT - Is the king of the OT social media twitter world! Anything interesting that's current in the OT world Bill is tweeting about it or retweeting it.
And of course ourselves @kellyhiscox and @LucyTilden
Love.
Kelly & Lucy