Use social media to promote OT
Getting involved in social media networks can give you a flexible and convenient way of communicating with OT colleagues, supporters, policy makers, journalists and related organisations
Becoming an active member of social networks allows you to raise awareness of occupational therapy, as well as establishing connections with people with similar professional interests. No longer are people using social networking websites to just keep in touch with friends and family.
You will find us on a number of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, while we also have our own community of members in our forums. We use social media platforms with the aim of engaging with and supporting the expanding online OT community. We share information with followers and can help by answering queries or promoting networking between members.
Twitter is a service that lets users share short messages, or “tweets”, online. These messages can be viewed by anyone visiting that user’s Twitter profile (ours is at twitter.com/baotcot), while Twitter users can “follow” other users and see their updates instantly on their Twitter homepage.
On Twitter you'll find other allied health and social care groups, local government members and policy makers, charities and a host of other individuals and organisations participating on Twitter. You'll find them linking to upcoming events, new publications and announcements, while you can also search tweets to find what is being said at any given moment to find interesting information.
We have lists on Twitter, so you can easily find and follow our staff or fellow OTs from around the world.
A hashtag, such as #OTweek (or #cot2011 for our Conference this year or our weekly #OTuesday chat), allows easy searching of tweets, and makes it possible to follow all discussion related to that topic. So during OT week make sure you use the #OTweek hashtag with your tweets and share your OT week news with the world and help raise awareness of Occupational Therapy.
As the biggest social networking website, you'll find a large number of OTs on Facebook. As well as networking directly with other users, you can join networks organised by city, workplace, school, and region.
Aside from our own page where you'll find our latest news and can discuss OT matters, we've got a group for students as well as various networking groups for new graduates around the country. You'll also find groups devoted to various aspects of Occupational Therapy, try searching!
On Facebook you can share information with friends and invite discussion, so during OT week you could tell your network about any specific things that you are doing for OT week, or else just tell them about Occupational Therapy in general to help raise awareness - you could link to our website or some of our videos for information, or sign up for the OT week event.
LinkedIn enables users to create professional profiles, network with other professionals and join online groups relating specifically to professional issues and is a useful way of expanding your professional network.
Profiles are in a CV format, including current professional interests and employment history, while you can also record other CPD activity and display this publicly.
Networking can be done through our members group while there are a wide range of other groups related to other Occupational Therapy or health and social care topics.
