E-Professionalism on Social Media:the Opinions of Undergraduate Dental Students

Introduction In this digital world, social media usage among professional students including dental undergraduates is increasing.Such emerging e-professionalism has its advantages and disadvantages.It develops audience engagement, communication, and networking opportunities. It also has limitations such as addictions, controversial posts, and comments,inadequate information,etc. Objectives This study aimed to examine the opinions of dental students about e-professionalism on social media. Material and methods A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate dental students at Dental Government College in Imphal,Manipur.(n = 229).The instrument used was a 28-item questionnaire modified from a previous study among dental students in Malaysia.Social media platforms such as WhatsApp,YouTube,Instagram, and Facebook were included.Data collected was statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software 25 version (IBM Corp.Armonk,NY,USA) Results More female subjects were participated in this study. Attitudes of the students towards e-professionalism were very positive. The findings indicate the existence of both advantages and limitations. Conclusions There is a high use of social media among the students. The practices and concerns regarding e-professionalism are rising and therefore, a more uniform approach and awareness training programs on e-professionalism can help the students properly utilize it.