Social Issues to Social Media

Don't use social media to impress people, use it to impact people

- Dave Willis

I wish everyone used social media at Mr. Willis idealized.

Social media. It’s new, huge, innovative and useful. It connects people from different cities, countries, backgrounds and experiences; lets them share and communicate on easy to use platforms. It has changed the way humans send and receive information, interact with one another and stay up to date on news (debatable). It’s changed marketing, design, supply and demand.

I started TinyDoc as a place for me to connect with others, share things that interest me and express my opinion. I want to help those considering medicine, and get help from those above me. I want to ignite change for social issues that are important to me. I want to start difficult discussions. I want to advocate for things others may not think about. And I have.

Sort of.

When looking at my “insights” on the blog, my most viewed posts are cute pictures, many with forgettable captions, one or two with actual issues I wanted to discuss (men in OBGYN, for example).

My least viewed posts are ones that are most important to me. My own health story and journey with the March of Dimes, my inspiration. My experience learning about postpartum depression and how to help new moms, something I am SO passionate about, that barely beeped on anyone’s radar. My view of #USMLE being P/F, surgeries in Peru, my STEM mentor, still not as much traffic as my duckface on Valentine’s Day.

It honestly frustrates me when I see "influencers" sharing posts about clothing lines, bags, and perfumes, getting thousands of "likes", while important social issues are getting ignored. It frustrates me when incorrect news is shared, uneducated posts are shared and re-shared, and people take them as gospel. I know taking on the issue of incorrect information on the internet is WAY above my pay-grade, but it still irritates me.

What’s a girl to do? I want to share causes that are important to me and educate/advocate for others. Social media is a great way to do that, but HOW?