Tik Tok, Tik Tok…Oh, Snap!

When I was asked to write an article for this month’s newsletter, it didn’t take much time for me to decide on a topic.  I ventured into the world of social media a little over a decade ago, but as my oldest two children have grown into the middle school years, the rapid evolution of social media and its impact on our practice and our families is constantly in my face and on my mind.  I have become quite proficient at Facebook and have enjoyed keeping my family experiences well-documented, like a real-time photo album over the years, and probably like most of you have found it to be a great place to connect with others who have similar interests in online communities like the Physician Moms Group or EMDocs. Instagram and Twitter have become a fairly familiar environment, as well, and I have always felt confident that I could keep my kids monitored if they accessed these sites. 

Recently, I learned of this new social media app called “Tik Tok,” and my daughter was just dying to be able to use it with her friends. I read some reviews on it and had a lot of concerns. My daughter pitched an idea to me that she could have an account if I had an account and monitored everything she was doing on the site. This sounded like a decent plan to me, so I started my adventure on to Tik Tok about 2 weeks ago. I have to be honest. I found the site to be silly and entertaining. There are dances to learn and fun videos to make. My daughter’s posts are appropriate and not concerning to me. However, I have noticed that what was visible to be seen was much more worrisome. I have yet to find a way to filter content for my tween in terms of what she can and cannot see, and sometimes what I am seeing is definitely not appropriate viewing for an 11-year-old. That kind of access to a broad variety of content and strangers is worrisome to say the least.

Oddly, as I was learning more about this app, I learned something that concerned me perhaps even more on the “Snapchat” app. My older teenage son made me aware that he and his friends could see the exact location of their Snapchat friends at all times with what is essentially GPS tracking if they had their location function on. It is unclear to me if there are mechanisms to limit this kind of access to my child’s location on the app to close family and friends, or if anyone using the app may be able to find my child.

So, I am sure you are asking, what does any of this have to do with AAWEP or emergency medicine? Is this a parenting issue, or is this an emergency medicine issue? After spending a few weeks on these apps and diving into their evolution and broad content, it became clear to me that this is absolutely our issue in emergency medicine. As with anything that may put our patient populations at risk, or alternatively give us insight into our patient’s mindsets and behaviors, social media is no different. If we are to convince ourselves that we are just not interested or unwilling to learn about these new and evolving communication tools that our patients are spending possibly hours on every day, we are missing a huge opportunity to perhaps intervene or advocate for our patients when they need us. It is clear that social media isn’t going anywhere, and it is a very powerful tool. No matter what our age, we can be aware of the risks so we can educate our patients and their families to avoid potentially harmful situations, and we can advocate for safeguards to be put in place so issues like human trafficking, gun violence, suicide, or bullying (only to name a few) don’t go unnoticed and flourish right under our noses. We have an immense opportunity to grow our involvement in our patient’s lives and to increase our presence through our own platforms so that AAWEP can have a lasting impact on this evolving world of social media.

If you have ideas as to how AAWEP can get involved in this issue through an ACEP resolution, educational programs, or grow our own social media platforms, please share them with our executive committee.  You can also join our Social Media Committee; we have plenty of room! You can follow AAWEP on Facebook and Twitter @AAWEPSection, or you can join me directly through my social media exploration on TikTok @tiktocerdoc or Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @cdemoormd.

By Carrie de Moor, MD, FACEP