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Doctors in Social Media – From Misinformation to Meaningful Messages

Pisar PIND, Ruus JOHANNA, Vanaveski ANand

In today’s world, social media is one of the main arenas where health information spreads – often faster than evidence-based knowledge can keep up. Doctors can play a key role in providing trustworthy medical content, yet many hesitate to engage. In this workshop, we want to encourage healthcare professionals to find their voice online and share practical tools for impactful communication. In the interactive part of the workshop, participants will work in small groups to brainstorm and create their own social media posts.Explain how trust is formed in online health communication. Apply communication principles to the creation of health-related social media content. Engage collaboratively in brainstorming and developing social media posts in a supportive peer-learning environment.The workshop combines interactive lecture, facilitated group discussion, small-group collaborative work, peer feedback and collective reflection. First half:  – begins with a short interactive lecture introducing the international research project Trust and Visuality: Everyday Digital Practices (TRAVIS), highlighting key findings on trust formation, visual strategies, and audience engagement in online health communication, including the dynamics of alternative medicine discourse. – following facilitated group discussion, where participants reflect on their own experiences with social media. Second half: – participants work in small groups to brainstorm and design their own social media posts. Selected outputs may be shared on Eesti Perearstide Selts social media channels, subject to participants’ consent. The emphasis, however, remains on peer learning, experimentation, and confidence-building. – the workshop concludes with a short reflection and take-home recommendations.Demonstrate a stronger understanding of trust-building mechanisms in digital health communication. Report increased confidence to engage in online health communication as healthcare professionals. Feel more empowered to contribute actively to health misinformation in digital spaces.As health conversations increasingly unfold in digital spaces, the absence of credible medical voices creates room for oversimplification, polarization, and misinformation. This workshop positions healthcare professionals as necessary participants in shaping how health knowledge is understood, trusted, and shared online. By emphasizing experimentation over perfection, the session offers a practical starting point rather than a finished formula.