Should you be marketing your medical practice on Facebook? Or, if you don't like that phrasing, "connecting" with patients and potential patients on Facebook or similar social media outlets? It's a bit trickier for doctors than private citizens or businesses not involved in crucial decisions about their clients' health.

It may be a bit more difficult for doctors to get patients or prospective patients to like them on Facebook. But when you do, you gain access and the attention of the people who make your medical practice thrive. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to understand what Facebook users think about "liking" someone on the site and maybe even more importantly, what they expect from them in doing so.

A study performed last June by ExactTarget called "Subscribers, Fans and Followers: The Meaning of Like" surveyed Facebook users about their thoughts on "liking." Maybe the most important criteria in the study was that everyone included in the "expectations" part of the survey have liked”companies on Facebook before, which helps eliminate people who are simply jaded about the whole concept.

To sum it up in one sentence, people don’t want to be bombarded with messages or ads (54%), but they do expect to get some sort of exclusive offers for liking you (58%). Maybe this is a discount for services, or exclusive information to Facebook fans.

Younger Facebook users "like" brands as a way of self-expression, whereas older adults have the expectations of something more tangible in exchange.

With that in mind, you can have a better understanding of patient expectations, rather than just flying blindly in your social media efforts.