The International Academy of Nursing Editors (INANE) held its annual meeting in San Francisco August 3–5, 2011. INANE is an “international collaborative” composed of nurse editors and publishers of nursing journals and books. (For more information see http://www.nursingeditors-inane.org/about.html) I feel compelled to comment on one of the presentations, a panel and breakout session titled “Welcome to the Brave New World of Social Media,” because I'm one of the old timers who has very little interest in the current environment of social networks, Twitter, online chat groups, and Internet gaming. I went into this session thinking, “Oh no, give me a break.” I left that morning session with a new appreciation for certain aspects of social media and how editors can use these tools to enhance content for our journals. I also came to the conclusion that it might not be me as the editor who does the blogging, the Facebooking, the Tweeting, but at the very least, I will be having a discussion with the editorial board, the association, and the publisher about where we should invest our energies. I am convinced that there is an appeal to many of our readers and I am impressed with what some journals have done in this area. As a start, I invite readers to check out the INANE website (http://www.nursingeditors-inane.org/index.html) home page at the bottom to see what is available for the nurse editor. We were honored with a guest blogger for the duration of the INANE conference (check tag “live blogging”) - none other than Cherry Ames, RN. Those of you who know the world of Cherry Ames now understand why some of us old timers may be reluctant entrants into the social networking arena. So that you don't think I'm a complete Luddite in this digital age, I would like to share some of my concerns about social networking. I have learned that many of these concerns can be mitigated with careful attention to Internet safety. That said, it pays to be very cautious about online privacy settings, “friending” and other linkages, as well as the content of any postings. My advice is to consult experts in the field of computer and network security, who may be as close as your publisher. Publishing companies have had to create secure platforms for hosting journals and books; most also have some kind of presence on social networking sites. For more detail on blogging, Facebooking, and Tweeting related to nursing, check out the presentations posted on the INANE website for the first day of the August 2011 conference. You will find examples of some journal blogs, strategies for setting up Facebook pages, and suggestions for getting started on Twitter to enhance the value of your journal or book. It seems that social media is really an excellent way to attract some readers to our journals. And, of course there are metrics that help you analyze the degree to which your social media efforts have attracted visitors to your site. But I will leave that for other experts to explain and interpret. Charon A. Pierson, PhD, GNP-BC, FAANP, is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Aging at the University of Texas El Paso School of Nursing and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She is also the Editor of Nurse Author & Editor.
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Jun 16, 2016
Emmanuel Marty + 2
Open Access