The pros of having a personal web site and LinkedIn are clear when it comes to putting yourself out there for the world to see. How you display your professional and personal life on these accounts means everything. On LinkedIn it is a great tool to connect with old classmates and display certifications, work history, and other affiliations that display ones work experience. The personal website allows me to show pictures and videos of some of the work that I am capable of performing with the patients I work with. I think it is even more important because I have found that the techniques that I utilize in my work is slightly offbeat compared to the work of a traditional athletic trainer.
The cons of having these accounts are sometimes concealed, but there are some cons that could conflict with all the pros that these accounts have to offer. The obvious con is portraying a negative image to the outside world by I think Facebook has a reputation of being a social media site to keep up with friends around the world, and is made mainly for fun. When I created a linkedIn account, I found that it is a much more professional social media site. Most people are educated and are in pursuit or already have degrees. It is a great place to meet other professionals and make career changing connections. The biggest difference I found was the users that use linkedIn versus the users that are members of linked in.
I personally use Facebook to keep in contact with family members and old friends. My linked in account friends consists of my peers in college, healthcare professionals, and other members that are certified and have college degrees related to the field of Kinesiology. I believe apps are very important for athletic trainers. There are apps available for a small cost that allow athletic trainers to document and save injuries on the go. This can be very helpful in the busy lives of athletic trainers. Sometimes I find it very difficult to create injury reports in time for coaches because I am so busy physically helping so many patients. The potential for apps will continue to prosper as more people begin to develop programs to make life easier.
There is an app called "athletic training injury form", and this app for sale on the itunes store. I have only read the description, but it stated that an athletic trainer can document injuries. It provides options for special tests, history, severity and observation. It is an easy tool to use while out at practice or on the road traveling. I think this blog will continue to grow and be added to as i think of more ideas of what an app should have to help me in the field of sports medicine.
I found it interesting that Facebook was so low. It was still in the top 10, but I didn't expect that. I was interested to find that most of the social media tools that I am utilizing are high up on the top 100 list of tools for learning in 2014. Since I use those tools I can honestly say that I utilized those tools for learning purposes many times.
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