2015 AMWA-DVC Freelance Conference Presentation
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The Role of Social Media in Freelance Medical Writing, is based on original research. This research involved analyzing the value of social media for freelance medical writers seeking the latest in medical-related news, continuing education for professional growth, and information exchange among peers. *Presentation given at conference
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2015 AMWA-DVC Freelance Conference Presentation
- 1. The Role of Social Media in Freelance Medical Writing Jennifer Minarcik, MS 13th Annual Freelance Conference
- 2. 13th Annual Freelance Conference 2014 Survey • Survey through Survey Monkey • Survey data was collected over the period of January 30, 2014-February 28, 2014 • Targeted full time and part time freelance medical writers • Survey was posted on LinkedIn group discussion boards for: • AMWA • Freelance Medical Writing and Editing • Freelancers in Medcomm • Professional Medical/Scientific Writers • 85 freelance medical writers participated in the study
- 3. 13th Annual Freelance Conference Preferred Social Media Platforms for Communication 0 20 40 60 80 100 Facebook LinkedIn Google+ You Tube Twitter %
- 4. 13th Annual Freelance Conference 0 20 40 60 80 100 Exchange of information Professional development News and information Research Marketing Seeking employment Networking % Freelance Medical Writers Professional Use of Social Media
- 5. 13th Annual Freelance Conference 0 20 40 60 80 100 Google alerts RSS Feeds HootSuite I do not use filters % Social Media Filters Used by Freelance Medical Writers
- 6. 13th Annual Freelance Conference 0 20 40 60 80 100 Twitter Pinterest del.icio.us digg reddit Do not use Other % Social Media Bookmarking Tools Used by Freelance Medical Writers
- 7. 13th Annual Freelance Conference 0 20 40 60 80 100 >1 1-3 4-6 6+ % Hoursperweek Time Freelance Medical Writers Spend Participating in Social Media 13th Annual Freelance Conference
- 8. 13th Annual Freelance Conference 0 20 40 60 80 100 >1 1-3 4-6 6+ % Hoursperweek Time Freelance Medical Writers Spend Participating on Discussion Boards and Forums
- 9. 13th Annual Freelance Conference Synchronous Asynchronous No preference 0 20 40 60 80 100 Not Important Somewhat Important Important Very Important % Importance of Webinars and Podcasts to Freelance Medical Writers
- 10. 13th Annual Freelance Conference Top-Line Takeaways from Study Results • The top 4 social media platforms most often used by freelance medical writers were LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube • Freelance medical writers do not use social media tools • Exchange of information with colleagues, personal professional development, and seeking out the latest news and information were top professional uses of social media for freelance medical writers • Freelance medical writers spend far less time using social media than the average American • Freelance medical writers value webinars and podcasts
- 11. 13th Annual Freelance Conference Study Limitations and Final Thoughts Limitations • Low response rate • Narrow range in participant age • Limited sampling pool Considerations • Continue to monitor the impact of social media on health care • Keep abreast of the 3 industry sectors and their social media initiatives • Understand the current platforms and tools of social media
- 12. 13th Annual Freelance Conference Thank You! Questions? More Information? Visit my website: Jenniferminarcik.com Email me: Jenminarcik@gmail.com Call me: 856-912-1809 Lets Get Connected! Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jennminarcik LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferminarcik
Editor's Notes
- Good morning and thank you _____ This morning I would like to share with you the results of a survey I performed last year as part of my Biomedical Writing Capstone project while attending the Univeristy of the Sciences. An important responsibility a medical writer has to a client/employer is keeping abreast of the latest news regarding medical discoveries, treatments, regulations, and policies. Full-time employed medical writers are often responsible for one therapeutic area and benefit from their employer’s resources for continuing education and professional development. However, freelances often work in multiple disciplines simultaneously and have to use their own resources for information mining, continuing education, and professional development. Given the new direction the health care industry, government agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry are taking to broadcast health-related news and information, the use of SM is a potential channel for freelances seeking up-to-date news in a specific therapeutic area. This study examines the SM applications freelance medical writers are using, how they are using SM tools, and the value they place on the information obtained through SM
- A survey of full time (FT) and part time (PT) freelance medical writers participating in the LinkedIn groups American Medical Writers Association, Freelance Medical Editing and Writing, Freelancers in MedComm, and Professional Medical/Scientific Writers, was conducted over the period January 30, 2014 to February 28, 2014 using the Survey Monkey web site. A discussion board was created on each of the LinkedIn group pages where the survey was posted. The survey responses were completely anonymous and the participants were not compensated. A total of 85 freelance medical writers participated in the study
- Results of the survey indicate the SM applications most often used by freelance medical writers are LinkedIn (96.5%), Facebook (69.4%), Twitter (36.5%), YouTube (23.5%), and Google+ (18.8%). Of the 85 participants who did not select one of the options from the survey questions, 9 free-responded they use Labroots (eg, a scientific social networking site), professional society sites, Pinterest, Instagram, Xing, and reddit.
- Participants of the survey were asked to indicate their professional reasons for using SM. The top 4 responses included: exchange of information with colleagues (81%), personal professional development (70.2%), seeking out the latest news and information (82.1%), and research (33.3%). Additional comments obtained through the survey indicated participants use SM for marketing (4%), networking (4%), and seeking employment opportunities (3.5%).
- The amount of information broadcast and shared through these applications can be overwhelming. In order to focus on specific information, SM tools are available (eg, filters, bookmarks). When asked which tools they use to filter the information they gather online, most (66.3%) participants responded they do not use filters. Of those who do use filters, 21.3% use Google alerts, 16.3% subscribe to RSS news feeds, and 5% use the online service HootSuite. Additional comments identified the use of digests on message boards as a method of filtering, and alerts from Twitter and LinkedIn to filter information.
- Most participants (69.3%) indicated they do not use SM bookmarking tools. A few indicated they use Twitter (18.3%) and Pinterest (11%) as way to bookmark important information. term “social media bookmark”. Surprisingly, 17% of the respondents indicated they were not familiar with the term “social bookmarking”.
- To measure the value freelances place in their SM activity, participants were asked approximately how many hours a week they engage in SM. 35.7% participants answered they spend approximately 1-3 hours a week actively engaging in SM, 26.1% spending 4-6 hours a week, 23.8% spending more than 6 hours a week, and 14.2% spending less than 1 hour a week.
- Next, participants were asked approximately how many hours a week they participate in discussion boards and online forums. About half (47%) of the participants answered they spend less than 1 hour a week on discussion boards and online forums, 32.9% spend 1-3 hours a week, 11.3% spend 4-6 hours a week, and 5% spend more than 6 hours a week.
- Participants were then asked how important webinars and podcasts are to their personal continuing professional education. Most (41.6%) participants ranked webinars and podcasts as “Somewhat important”, 32.1% “Important”, and 14.2% “Very important” (Figure 5A). Only 11.9% of participants indicated they receive no benefit from webinars and podcasts. Approximately half of the participants did not have a preference for viewing live vs previously-recorded webinars and podcasts. This may be due to the benefits associated with both choices. Watching a live webinar or podcast allows for interaction with the presenter, while watching a previously-recorded webinar or podcast provides convenience to the viewer; such as pausing the video, rewinding for review, and watching at any time.
- Result of the showed that the preferred SM platforms of freelance medical writers (LI, Twitter, FB, YouTube) and these are relatively the same platforms industry sectors are using to broadcast information and news, however, the participants’ experience with SM tools and the time spent actively engaged with SM sites suggest that SM may be an underutilized resource for many freelance medical writers. For example, determining what content is relevant and credible can be a daunting task. SM filters and bookmarks were, are, and continue to be developed to help users optimize the amount of time spent retrieving and sharing information. Most participants indicated they do not use SM tools, an unexpected finding given the increased efficiencies obtained by using these tools. In addition, marketing, competitive intelligence, search engine optimization, and recruiting are benefits to actively participating in SM. Survey results indicated less than a third of participants spend over 6 hours a week using SM. This finding was unexpected given the reported national average (approx. 16 hours a week) of how much time Americans spend using SM and the participants’ responses that indicated they did find value in SM. This suggests most participants may be using SM but are not actively engaging in SM throughout the week. Finally, freelances were asked to rate how important webinars and podcasts are to their businesses. Survey results indicated that the majority of participants believed they benefitted from webinars and podcasts.
- The primary limitation of this study was the low response rate. It is not possible to calculate an exact response rate given the uncertainty in duplicate membership across the LinkedIn groups, however, the actual participant number was still considered to be low (n=85). The response number could have been increased with a longer survey time or more communication between researcher and target audience. An additional limitation of the study was the narrow range in participant age. An overwhelming number of respondents (n=65) indicated that they were over 40 years of age. Both limitations may have resulted in the data being skewed; therefore, the findings of this study may not be an accurate representation SM use of all freelance medical writers. As the SM landscape continues to change, freelance medical writers should be cognizant of the direction industry takes with its SM initiatives, in addition to the ever-changing SM landscape. Recommendations for future studies include conducting a survey of all AMWA medial writers for a comparative analysis of employed medical writer SM engagement and freelance medical writer SM engagement with the addition of any new SM platforms and tools that have arisen.