One woman has a warning for anyone who ends up becoming a patient at a hospital: Set your social media to private during your stay.
In a viral X (formerly Twitter) post that has racked up over 4.5 million views, user Cass (@Amnesiac2326) said hospital workers definitely take to social media to find out about their patients.
“If you have a new doctor or a hospital stay in your future, make sure all your socials are set to private,” the woman wrote. “Nurses are absolutely looking you up, especially during longer stays.”
Cass, who is disabled and identifies as “queer”, said she noticed something was amiss when nurses who were mean to her during her hospital stay began to pop up as “suggested friends” on social media.
“Spent 3 months in antepartum (in the deep south) during 2020,” the woman continued in a subsequent post. “When my mean nurses started popping up as suggested friends, I was incredibly suspicious.”
Apparently, her “fears were confirmed” by other nurses who confirmed that some may participate in the practice.
Comments from other X users immediately rolled in.
“Well this is terrible,” Dr. Julie Gurner (@Drgurner) responded plainly.
One user simply was not buying the story about hospital workers snooping on their patients.
“Most nurses don’t have the time or energy to look you up on social media,” user Sheri (@juliettnkerbug) wrote in a response. “Sorry to burst your self-absorbed bubble. They are tired and over worked. They don’t care.”
She also offered up another explanation for the “suggested friend” phenomenon the original poster may have experienced: “Algorithms know if people are within close proximity to each other for extended times, like a hospital stay.”
Another user took the moment to dole out some useful information and advice about patient privacy rules.
“This is a violation of the American Medical Association’s code of ethics,” user Waysidewhelp (@waysidewhelp). “Report them w/ their license numbers to the medical review board in your/their area of practice.”
The Daily Dot reached out to the American Medical Association via a contact form for more information about its privacy rules and regulations and reached out to Cass for more information via X comment.
In the aftermath of the viral tweet, it appears she may have gleaned new insights about hospital workers that challenge her original post.
“While I’m really happy so many saw this and will hopefully learn from my mistake, I’ve gotta mute this for my sanity,” she wrote.
