APMA News - January/February 2018 - 48

Inside APMA's Social Media

What is Pinterest? How Do I Use It?
In today's digital age, there seem to be countless social networking sites, each with a unique
purpose and target audience. With the plethora
of options available to you, it can be hard to keep
up. In this installment of Inside APMA's Social
Media, we look at Pinterest (www.pinterest.com),
one of the more popular social networking sites.
n Pinterest is a visual bookmarking site.
Visual bookmarking sites operate on the premise that the
internet is too vast for any one person to remember all of
the sites, articles, blogs, recipes, etc., he or she sees in a
given day. Visual bookmarking sites such as Pinterest allow you to make a visual representation, or "pin," of content you wish to look at later. This pin takes you back to
the original site where you found it.

Visual bookmarking sites
operate on the premise that the
internet is too vast for any one
person to remember all of the
sites, articles, blogs, recipes, etc.,
he or she sees in a given day.
n How does Pinterest work?
When you create a profile on Pinterest, the site prompts
you to create a "board." These boards allow you to organize
your pins into categories. Take, for instance, our "Today's
Podiatrist In the News" board at www.pinterest.com/the
apma/todays-podiatrist-in-the-news (create an account to
view content on Pinterest). This board is filled with articles in which an APMA member is quoted or interviewed.
We create a pin from the article and pin it onto this board.
If followers want to take a closer look at the article, they
can simply click on the pin and it will take them directly
to the original site.
n Is Pinterest right for me and my practice?
As mentioned, Pinterest is a driven by visual content. If that
aspect appeals to you, Pinterest might be the perfect fit. If
you prefer to share your content with text descriptions or
links to news stories, then Facebook or Twitter might be the
better fit for you. Take a look at APMA's Pinterest account
48 APMA News January/February 2018

((www.pinterest.com/theapma) to get an idea of
(www.pinterest.com/theapma
how Pinterest works and the type of content we
like to share.
n What type of material should I share on
Pinterest?
As always, we recommend sharing articles and
pictures from reputable sources. Infographics
are another popular choice for health-care professionals to
share. A word of caution: It might seem like a great idea to
pin clinical images of a particular ailment, but while these
pictures might be normal for you as a physician, they can
be off-putting to the average Pinterest user, so use your best
judgment when posting anything graphic-and of course
remember to obtain your patients' permission before using any images of them.
n

For more information about APMA's social media accounts, contact Nora Younes at nryounes@apma.org.

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http://www.pinterest.com/theapma http://www.pinterest.com http://www.pinterest.com/theapma/todays-podiatrist-in-the-news http://www.pinterest.com/theapma/todays-podiatrist-in-the-news http://www.apma.org/careercenter

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - January/February 2018