Experts’ boundary work on social media: Doctors on Instagram

Science-based experts have started to utilize social media to seek direct contact with audiences and social recognition for their expertise. Experts need to balance professional principles and the expectations arising from the changing media landscape. To understand how science-based experts navigate their way on social media, we utilize the concept of boundary work. We analyze how medical doctors enact and expand expertise on Instagram via boundary work in relation to publics, self, and markets. Using qualitative content analysis, we studied 2125 Instagram posts from the 20 most-followed doctors in Finland. Doctors enacted expertise by holding on to their epistemic authority, maintaining their professional role at the core of their posts, and avoiding advertising medical services. However, they expanded expertise by building relationships with their audiences, using anecdotes and personal experiences in their communication, and creating new communicational products for their audiences.