Introduction:

social networks are digital platforms that connect people based on criteria such as: friendship, professional relationship or kinship. We can mention among their advantages that they facilitate the expansion of the information that is generated through the cooperation of registered users.

Objectives:

the main objective of this article is to use these technologies in daily pedagogical practice for providing meaningful and quality learning. Future public health professionals should know all the theoretical content related to academic social networks.

Methods:

the evolution of the term academic social networks, their influence on communication, the advantages and disadvantages of these networks and their characteristics were assessed. Similarly, the academic social networks of the health sector were exemplified and described and the most popular ones were taken as references.

Results:

we concluded that there is a shortage of scientific data on the adoption of social networks in public health settings although social networks are growing and beginning to be part of the communication strategies of public institutions.

Conclusions:

more studies are needed to analyze the effectiveness of the use of these tools by institutions to disseminate medical health information; social networks are a good instrument to disseminate information in a cost-effective way despite the lack of resources and personnel.