Background: Integrating social media (SoMe) in nursing informatics has revolutionized information dissemination strategies. Professional organizations, notably the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA), leverage SoMe platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Slack, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for member engagement and information sharing. This project examines the impact of these platforms on continuing education and professional development within the field.

Objective: This evaluation aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ANIA's SoMe strategy in enhancing professional development and continuing education, compared to traditional methods.

Literature review: Current literature states that social media has become an increasingly valuable tool for professional development across various fields, including health care, education, and business. Other highlights include enhanced networking and collaboration, access to the latest information and trends, multiple offerings to include webinars, online courses, and workshops, and personal branding and visibility.

Methods: This review analyzed engagement metrics from LinkedIn, Twitter (now X), YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Engagement metrics included content reactions, comments, reposts, visitor and follower counts, and likes. A sample of fourteen professional development posts was analyzed across three platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram) to assess engagement rates.

Results: Between January 1, 2023, and November 30, 2023, the project found high engagement rates across all platforms: 6.45% for LinkedIn, 5.42% for Facebook, 5.19% for Instagram, and 4.74% for X. However, when professional development postings were randomly selected, results demonstrated Instagram ranked #1 at 7.6%, followed by LinkedIn (6.05%) and Facebook at 3.30%.

Discussion: The results indicate that Instagram and LinkedIn are the most effective platforms for ANIA's SoMe strategy. However, platforms like X, Slack, and YouTube showed lower engagement, suggesting that ANIA followers are less engaged on these platforms. While this may be the case, social media best practices suggest that maintaining a presence on these platforms is essential from a branding perspective.

Limitations: The study acknowledges the limited scope of engagement metrics and the potential bias in selecting the fourteen professional development posts.

Future directions: Upcoming reviews will target specific postings to improve resumes and interview techniques. We also recommend conducting an online survey for member feedback and utilizing national conference forums to refine SoMe strategies. Policy, training, and security issues related to SoMe use in nursing informatics.

Conclusion: This review underscores the significant role SoMe in advancing professional development and continuing education in nursing informatics. It provides insights for optimizing SoMe strategies to enhance engagement and learning outcomes in this field.

Kathryn Abaya BSN, RN, NI-BC

Appearances