Top tips for social media use in sports and exercise medicine: doing the right thing in the digital age.

Sports and exercise (SEM) clinicians need thick skin and a nimble brain to juggle the plethora of competing professional responsibilities; from athlete clinical care, to work/life pressures, all while developing professional knowledge and skills. In recent years there has also been an assertion that SEM clinicians need to develop/maintain a social media presence, and many working in amateur and elite sport now have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles. Although professional bodies have provided social media guidance (see web appendix for additional reading) there is no explicit SEM specific social media guidance. In amateur sport, where there is not the day-to-day contact with athletes that a professional sporting environment allows, social media represents a channel of communication between the sports clinician and the athlete. 2 In this hyperconnected age it is appropriate to interact with the athletes under our care using social media, but this needs to be carried out in a way that is professional, ethical and in keeping with the social media guidance from the respective professional organsations (see web appendix). Private discussions using social networks can help resolve communication/geographical challenges and may include multiple members of the multidisciplinary team at once, which can be beneficial while simultaneously remaining confidential (eg, WhatsApp messages and Twitter direct messages). Sports clinicians communicating via social media need to be cognisant of their conduct in seveal areas. Confidentiality must always be respected, and broadcasted opinions on refereeing/coaching decisions may undermine the integrity of the competition and provoke team/club scrutiny and controversy. Disclosing injury statuses via social media posts is another obvious pitfall worth avoiding. ‘Trolls’ exist online in