The Effects of a Social Media Policy on Pharmacy Students' Facebook Security Settings

Objective. To examine how students entering a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program used Facebook privacy settings before and after the college's social media policy was presented to them. Methods. The Facebook profiles of all entering first-year pharmacy students across 4 campuses of a college of pharmacy were evaluated. Ten dichotomous variables of interest were viewed and recorded for each student's Facebook account at 3 time points: before the start of the semester, after presentation of the college's social media policy, and at the end of the semester. Data on whether a profile could be found and what portions of the profile were viewable also were collected. Results. After introduction of the policy, a significant number of students increased their security settings (made information not visible to the public) related to Facebook walls, information pages, and links. Conclusions. Making pharmacy students aware of a college's social media policy had a positive impact on their behaviors regarding online security and privacy.