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Social Media Profiles – Naming for Success

Naming your social media profiles as a health professional is key. Here are a few angles to consider:

Use your name with MD or DO

When possible, set up your profiles around your name. Use MD after your name if what you are doing is in a professional context. This is how most people will search for you. Also, it ‘squats’ your name so that no one else can claim it. And remember that if you use MD, don’t use doctor, and visa versa.

  • Here’s what to do if your Twitter name is taken.
Be consistent

If possible, name your profiles and accounts alike. 

Concerning the issue of maiden, or hyphenated, names decide how you want to be represented going forward and try to be consistent in all of your profiles. Unfortunately, there’s no way for the Google search spiders to understand how to connect your old name to your new name. The best strategy is to consider what happens from here forward. 

Keep blogs and podcasts names open-ended

Alternatively, when choosing a blog title and domain, choose something relatively broad and open-ended that will allow some latitude in what you cover. It is very likely that your interests, passions and angles will evolve and pivot. When I started this the blog associated with this site, it was all about doctors new to social media. I have expanded to cover doctors and technology. But given the odd nature of my site name, I didn’t have to change. 

Don’t be mysterious or cute 

While 33 charts has done a great job of creating curiosity and interest in my background, it isn’t obvious that I’m behind the site, and it’s also not obvious that it has anything to do with the weird and wonderful intersection of medicine and technology. Mysterious names can work really well or backfire. It’s worked for me but I don’t recommend it. 

Where I went wrong

So to eat the dog food, my Twitter handle @doctor_v is not ideal but it has sort of stuck with me. Given the complex spelling of my name, I think it may represent a better option. Few people are able to properly spell my name and so I think you need to consider all these practical angles.

If you found this quick summary on social media profiles useful, check out The Public Physician. It’s an online resource for physicians and health professionals navigating life in a connected, always-on world.

Updated June 2019

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Bryan Vartabedian, MD

Bryan Vartabedian, MD
Bryan Vartabedian is the Chief Pediatrics Officer at Texas Children’s Hospital North Austin and one of health care’s influential
voices on technology & medicine.
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What is 33 Charts?

With a mashup of curated and original content that crosses the spaces of digital health, media, communication, technology, patient experience, digital culture, and the humanities, 33 charts offers unique insight and analysis on the changing face of medicine.

Founded in 2009 as a center of community and thought leadership for the issues doctors face in a digital world, 33 charts was included in the National Library of Medicine permanent web archive in 2014.
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