Table 2.

Perceived risks and benefits of social media in the dental profession

Type of benefit/risk	Benefits	Risks
Personal	Communication: Connecting with friends, likeminded individuals, professional colleagues Medium to share knowledge Convenience: Instant, easily accessible, fast, constantly connected, supported with mobile devices connected to the internet Cost is free	Control: Can become addictive and therefore time consuming Communication: Lack of engagement and presence when face-to-face due to social media Confidentiality Conversations can be misconstrued or misinterpreted Potential to mislead users with information, such as 'fake news' Volume: Too much information, risk of feeling overwhelmed or risk of ignoring information Legacy: Digital footprint and loss of privacy, once it's online it's on forever and do not know who can access this information
Professional	Communication: Enables networking with professionals, like-minded individuals Creates dental communities which reduces the feeling of isolation, specifically for GDPs Social media can provide confidence to those who are shy at engaging in face-to-face learning activities Trust: Security of closed group allows conversation Can create trusting relationships Control: Some platform algorithms create a feeling of being in a bubble, which allows you to be more aware of what is happening among your network Targeted professional advertising can be beneficial in some cases, where tailor-made advertising suggested items or courses which may support learning needs Knowledge: Supports learning, discussions among colleagues, sharing advice and useful tips Increases awareness of jobs, courses and career options in dentistry Exposes user to suggestions of solutions of common problems and new topics Useful in aiding personal development and directing to online CPD (eg mandatory training elements) Provides insight into common challenges among the dental community	Quality: Poor quality of information, can lead to scepticism and risk of taking it for face value Lack of validity of user source of information and qualifications of users Trust: Of platform management and participants Control: Platform algorithms allow friends of friends in network to see user interactions, meaning you may or may not know who else is seeing your posts and comments. This creates a feeling of being in a 'bubble' which means you only see what is coming up on your feed, risk of missing out on information Targeted professional advertising can feel like an invasion of privacy, with it being lost 'Keyboard warriors', feeling of anonymity online allows the feeling of informal discussions and e-professionalism can be forgotten Legacy: Can be used for self-promotion, users can be seen as 'showing off' or 'beefing up' Users can appear arrogant or risk creating a negative reputation Users tend to post things that went well, so only see the things that went well Leaving a digital footprint risks repercussions in the future Knowledge: Social media directing to online courses, cannot replace practical learning in dentistry
Management	Adjusting settings on platform (privacy settings and changing profile name to reduce chance of patients connecting) Time keeping (setting times of the day to use social media) Maintaining social etiquette (keep phones away from table to engage in conversation) Keeping a professional and personal account Filtering information using own judgement on content, taking into consideration the qualifications and background of person providing answers/information, number of comments and context to situation, not taking it for face value, this can then steer you in the right direction if used appropriately Not having applications on phones, using certain platforms on different devices