Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, MD, FAAP

)? It’s Facebook’s addition to the geolocation landscape of many, many other social networking applications already in existence, such as Gowalla (

	You can’t get too far using any application on your iPhone without a screen coming up and asking you if you want to allow that application to use your location. If you hit “allow,” your location will then get tagged to whatever it is you are doing…posting, tweeting, or geolocating.

	I typically hit “Don’t Allow.” And, to date, I haven’t tried any of the prior geolocation networks, although I see that many of my friends have. There are a few reasons I’ve resisted so far:

	1. Privacy: I desire a clear boundary between my online and offline lives. If I wish for my friends and followers to know where I am for a specific reason, I’ll post that in my status update. I often do this if I’m attending a conference to let others in that city know I’m in town, for example. Plus, announcing your offline whereabouts to your online world could have physical dangers if your privacy settings are not set appropriately. This could be a major concern for teens and young adults.

	2. Value: I have yet to see the value in knowing the location of my friends and followers when they post their locations from services such as Gowalla, so I don’t feel that others knowing my location will add value to their ability to know me, either personally or professionally. The connections we have are via our content, not our locations.

	3. TMI: I’m sure you’ve noticed this yourself. There is most definitely a trend toward over-sharing online that can be interesting to observe. Sharing locations for the sake of sharing locations falls into that category, in my opinion. We all have busy lives. Do we really need to know that you drank a coffee at Starbucks or browsed books at Borders? That’s what’s happening via these services. These three items add up to the perfect storm for why to not use any geolocating service. I’m just not feeling it!

	Kara Swisher of All Things Digital summarized all these issues in her Boom Town Blog recently,when she wrote, “Viral Video: Nobody’s Listening” (

	“There’s been a bit of bloggery agonizing of late about the possibility that no one is listening to the endless stream of sharing via status updates and other social networking tools. 

	As in, if a check-in falls in the forest, does it make a sound? It’s a good question to answer, given all the effort being put into the social medium.”

	You likely have a sizable cohort of patients quite swept up in the social media craze. With Facebook leading the charge, many will be tempted to test drive Facebook Places and geolocate their every move. It’s important that we help them understand that these programs exist so that they can make sure their privacy and safety is what they think it is.

	Also take the time to remind our families to unplug and reconnect the old-fashioned way: offline and without technology. Having some private time with friends and family is the only way to help the patients we care for remember why boundaries and privacy are so important…and why technology, while tempting and alluring, places our very humanity at risk of being drummed out of us.

Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP (aka “Dr. Gwenn”) is a pediatrician, health journalist, parenting and social media expert, and CEO and Editor-In-Chief of Pediatrics Now (

), an online health and communications company dedicated to providing reliable information for today’s busy families. She also writes the blog Dr. Gwenn Is In (

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Have you heard about Facebook Places (www.facebook.com/places)? It's Facebook's addition to the geolocation landscape of many, many other social networking applications already in existence, such as Gowalla (www.gowalla.com), Whrrl (www.whrrl.com), and Loopt (www.loopt.com).

Social Media Notebook - Oh, the online places you'll go...or not!

You can’t get too far using any application on your iPhone without a screen coming up and asking you if you want to allow that application to use your location. If you hit “allow,” your location will then get tagged to whatever it is you are doing…posting, tweeting, or geolocating.

I typically hit “Don’t Allow.” And, to date, I haven’t tried any of the prior geolocation networks, although I see that many of my friends have. There are a few reasons I’ve resisted so far:

1. Privacy: I desire a clear boundary between my online and offline lives. If I wish for my friends and followers to know where I am for a specific reason, I’ll post that in my status update. I often do this if I’m attending a conference to let others in that city know I’m in town, for example. Plus, announcing your offline whereabouts to your online world could have physical dangers if your privacy settings are not set appropriately. This could be a major concern for teens and young adults.

2. Value: I have yet to see the value in knowing the location of my friends and followers when they post their locations from services such as Gowalla, so I don’t feel that others knowing my location will add value to their ability to know me, either personally or professionally. The connections we have are via our content, not our locations.

3. TMI: I’m sure you’ve noticed this yourself. There is most definitely a trend toward over-sharing online that can be interesting to observe. Sharing locations for the sake of sharing locations falls into that category, in my opinion. We all have busy lives. Do we really need to know that you drank a coffee at Starbucks or browsed books at Borders? That’s what’s happening via these services. These three items add up to the perfect storm for why to not use any geolocating service. I’m just not feeling it!

Kara Swisher of All Things Digital summarized all these issues in her Boom Town Blog recently,when she wrote, “Viral Video: Nobody’s Listening” (

“There’s been a bit of bloggery agonizing of late about the possibility that no one is listening to the endless stream of sharing via status updates and other social networking tools. 

As in, if a check-in falls in the forest, does it make a sound? It’s a good question to answer, given all the effort being put into the social medium.”

You likely have a sizable cohort of patients quite swept up in the social media craze. With Facebook leading the charge, many will be tempted to test drive Facebook Places and geolocate their every move. It’s important that we help them understand that these programs exist so that they can make sure their privacy and safety is what they think it is.

Also take the time to remind our families to unplug and reconnect the old-fashioned way: offline and without technology. Having some private time with friends and family is the only way to help the patients we care for remember why boundaries and privacy are so important…and why technology, while tempting and alluring, places our very humanity at risk of being drummed out of us.

Facebook is rapidly becoming more popular than e-mail, with millions of users of all ages signing up for accounts. Maybe it’s time you checked it out to see what all the fuss is about.

“Why do I need Facebook?” my mom asked me again. I answered as I always have: “You don’t need it, Mom. It’s just another way of interacting with people. It’s a communications tool that allows you to stay in touch with people. Everyone finds their own way to use it. It’s fun. Try it out.”

“Most people I know use e-mail,” she usually replies. “I’ll just use that.” Until recently, I would have agreed with her and not pushed her to join Facebook, but recent data has made me think that perhaps she should give Facebook a test drive. Perhaps we all should.

Last year marked the first time that Americans began using Facebook more frequently than e-mail, with users spending 15.8% of their time on social networking sites and 11.5% of their time on e-mail. This year, e-mail is truly being left in the dust, according to research from The Nielsen Company (http://hcp.lv/9B2cCl), we spend nearly 23% of our time on social networking sites and only 8% on e-mail. Quite a change in just one year’s time!

The picture changes a bit when you look at cell phone use. We actually spend quite a bit more time using e-mail on our cell phones (41%) than we do on social networking (28%). However, with the availability of newer smartphones and more third-party applications that make it easier to access websites without going through a true Internet portal, it will be interesting to see how these numbers change in 2011.

This gets even more intriguing when we consider who is actually using sites like Facebook, whether on their PC or mobile device. The Nielsen report, “

Social Networking’s New Global Footprint

”, revealed that social networking is becoming a multigenerational experience, with its popularity increasing among members of the 50-64 generation and the 64 generation. In 2007-2008, the number of 50 to 64-year-ol users was twice that of teenagers. So, we can no longer say that social networking is a venue of the young. This is a communications tool that is touching all of our populations, which means that patients of all ages will come into our offices having been shaped by the health information they receive from their Facebook experiences.

Does this mean that e-mail will go the way of the dinosaurs? I doubt it. As popular as Facebook has become, it still has well-known privacy issues, so it is not the ideal tool for communicating in a health or business setting. Facebook won’t replace e-mail any more than texting has replaced voice calling on cell phones. Just as there are times that we need to speak directly to somebody instead of texting them, we will likely always need the secure, one-on-one, private communication of an e-mail, especially in health care.

Still, if you are not on Facebook, I encourage you to give it a try. Many of your friends and family (and patients) of all ages are probably on Facebook. It is valauble to know firsthand how our patients are getting their information online, and from what venues. Knowing the names of those venues doesn’t replace having personal experiences with them. You don’t have to be an expert, just be familiar enough to know what a “wall” and a news feed are, as well as the meaning of “what’s on your mind?”

Or, join because you just want to be part of the “now” conversation, as my mom decided to. Yes, it’s true: my mom took the Facebook plunge. She still prefers e-mail, but she does find it useful to get on Facebook to drop a quick “hi” or “happy birthday,” especially to friends and relatives in faraway places. As I’ve explained to her many times, there’s no right or wrong way to use it. You’ll find your way, and then you’ll be able to join the conversation your patients are now part of, and in growing numbers!

Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP, (aka “Dr. Gwenn”) is a pediatrician, health journalist, parenting and social media expert, and is CEO and Editor-In-Chief of Pediatrics Now (

Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, MD, FAAP

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