By K. Richard Douglas
Twenty-seven years ago, social media did not exist. Although the term “social media” had been used sparingly around the same time, it had not yet entered the popular lexicon. From the mid-to-late 1990s, to the present day, the growth and utilization of social media has exploded.
Users of social media number in the billions. On its own, Facebook has nearly 3 billion monthly active users. Not far behind Facebook is YouTube, the video sharing and social media platform, with 2.2 billion monthly active users.
Content creators who use YouTube are always hoping to attract subscribers and “likes.” If a YouTuber meets certain criteria, the channel can be “monetized.” This may be the icing on the cake for a platform that allows content creators to reach hundreds or thousands, or even millions, of viewers and subscribers.
Alongside all of the entertainment content found on YouTube, one of the primary benefits of the platform is that it is a great vehicle for informing. Teaching, training and informing make up a sizable portion of YouTube’s video library.
One member of the biomed community who recognized this fact and has utilized YouTube for teaching and training is Justin Barbour. Barbour is something of a YouTube veteran with 550 videos under his belt and counting.
“I started my YouTube channel four years ago when I decided to video a training about isolated power systems. I didn’t want to repeat the training to other people in the future, so I created a channel and let YouTube host the training video. I emailed the link to the video to the hospital facilities department and they could train at their leisure,” Barbour explains.
Barbour says that he never intended to continue making videos, but the initial experiment went so well, that he continued with a couple of other topics.
“I thought the biomed community would laugh me into being unemployable, but as time went on, I received many positive emails and video comments encouraging more content. I have had to learn about speaking, recording/cameras, video editing, sound editing and marketing on my own. It’s been a journey,” Barbour says.
He says that each video starts with either a request from a viewer, a “Wow, you didn’t know about that” moment or a “I wish I would have known that” moment.
“Each day, I see enough content to make half a dozen videos and time is the only detractor from me constantly posting content. Some videos take lots of time to develop. The video on ‘Cardiac Output’ took over 14 hours of research, scripting, recording, audio editing, video editing, uploading and then marketing/social media posting,” Barbour says.
“Over 14 hours to make a seven-and-a-half-minute video. It’s a labor of love, because in that eight-minutes, the viewer will have acquired enough knowledge, at an accelerated rate, to make up for hours of book research. That’s the power of video content. We need to do more with less and I believe that training on YouTube is one of the easiest ways to accomplish that goal,” Barbour adds.
The Channel has been a Catalyst
Another powerful capability of YouTube is its reach. One person, producing video content anywhere in the world, can reach a global audience.
“Most people think that repairs and training are an issue that affect the U.S. [only], but I have received emails from biomeds in almost every country in the world. This is a worldwide conflict which we can all help solve. I have developed several unique methods for attacking the YouTube and Google algorithms, which help me reach an unintended audience,” Barbour says.
He says that the real magic has been boots on the ground and meeting people at events, using LinkedIn, answering questions online, writing articles, public speaking and all other forms of self-marketing.
“You can’t simply post a video and it magically goes viral. Biomeds are a community who didn’t have much or any social media representation when I started this project. I had to carve out the process from scratch. This is why I’ve been a huge advocate for biomeds to start using social media. The more people who post their knowledge; the more people who will use tools like YouTube to be better at their craft,” Barbour says.
The channel and its content have led to more professional opportunities for Barbour.
“Since the start of this channel, I have been flown across the country several times to meet biomeds, attend company events, tour facilities, see new products before they hit the market and I have some sort of credence as a serious biomed. I have met hundreds of amazing people, and it all culminated to this moment, where I became the vice president of business development at FOBI Medical; a position that I surely would not have been considered for if I stopped making videos years ago,” Barbour says.
The channel spawns 10-20 daily emails or messages online regarding medical technology or asking Barbour for his thoughts on something. He splits up his day to balance out his online obligations with his work and family obligations.
“In the morning, I try to answer shorter reply emails; during lunch I try to respond to LinkedIn messages; and in the evenings I try to answer longer messages, because then I have more time to think about or research the answers. The key is balance, and that balance is getting harder to achieve as the channel gets larger,” Barbour says.
Asked about what advice he has for others considering a biomed or technology YouTube or other social media channel, Barbour ticks off some important observations: You are not going to be famous. You are not going to get rich. It’s going to take years before you ever see a gain from your efforts. You need to watch what you say; it could affect your employability. Most medical facilities have policies against recording; be careful. Biomeds/clinical engineers are a very small group – maybe ~10,000 in the U.S. – your efforts are helping people around the whole world.
The work on this growing social media channel has been rewarding and Barbour is grateful for the channel and his career choice.
“I absolutely love this career, but I have a deeper admiration for the people who have supported me over these 19 years, to get me to this point,” he says.
Learn for yourself what has made the Better Biomed channel such a success: youtube.com/c/BetterBiomed
