Use social media for professional purposes.

Your Assignment

Please Note: This activity provides you the opportunity to explore, examine, and use social media for professional purposes. If you do not wish to have a LinkedIn account, please consider using a “junk email” account to create the LinkedIn account for this assignment. After this assignment is completed, you may then decide whether or not to keep your LinkedIn account active.

Create a LinkedIn account:  LinkedIn Home Page (Links to an external site.)

As you create a LinkedIn account, keep in mind that you are creating a personal/professional brand for yourself. For this assignment, your LinkedIn account will serve as your professional face to your peers, colleagues, and other professionals nationwide and globally.

Follow 5 companies, people, and/or hashtags

When you create your account, start by following 5 companies, people, and/or hashtags with like interests including nursing. LinkedIn is all about connecting with- organizations, people, and/or groups (Recommendations to follow include: Nursing Network and Nursing Beyond the Bedside). If you click on the profile of one of the companies you follow, you will see a list of “related groups”. There is a good chance you will find some interesting to companies, people, and hashtags to follow in those lists.

Another good place to start, is to search for and follow Nursing and Health associations, experts within the field, and your own personal colleagues.

Give it a try: The profile for Nursing Network is a great place to start. Sign into your LinkedIn account, search for Nursing Network, and follow them.

If you haven’t already done so, follow or connect with 5 or more Nursing/Healthcare associations, people, or groups.

Search for specific “activities”

Now that you are following 5 or more health-related companies, people, or hashtags, let’s try searching for # (hashtags).

Give it a try: Search for #HITsm on LinkedIn. What are some of the most current topics being discussed?

Find another interesting/relevant # chat or thread on LinkedIn.

Now, it’s your turn to jump in on the conversation

Respond to one of the posts within the #HITsm or another # discussion.

To do so, select the comment icon at the bottom of the post you wish to respond to, and type your reply.

Share your results with us.

Now that you’ve had the chance to explore and connect with other LinkedIn users, tell us a bit about your experience. Please answer the following questions in detail.

List some of the users you are now following on LinkedIn. Tell us a bit about the user and/or their posts.

Did you come across any relevant information?

Conferences

Webinars

Research

News

Networking

What were the topics being discussed on the #HITsm or your hashtag thread? Are any of them relevant to what we are covering this semester?

Did you come across any interesting discussions during your hashtag search? Which discussion did you respond to?

What are your overall impressions of LinkedIn? Will you continue to use it for your own research, professional networking, education?