Power Hour Optometry
Episode: ODs on Facebook: The Online Community Shaping the Future of Optometry with Dr. Alan Glazier
Host: Eugene Shatzman
Guest: Dr. Alan Glazier, Founder of ODs on Facebook
Date: August 20, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Eugene Shatzman dives into the remarkable story behind ODs on Facebook—a thriving community for eye care professionals founded by Dr. Alan Glazier. With over 47,000 members, this online space is not only setting the tone for conversation in optometry but also acting as a case study in community building on social media. The episode explores the group’s origins, the challenges of moderating such a large professional community, evolving industry trends, and practical advice both for harnessing social media for practice growth and safeguarding professional spaces in an AI-dominated future.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Birth and Philosophy of ODs on Facebook

• Dr. Glazier’s social nature and early experience in unruly online forums motivated him to create a better alternative for ODs:
  • “Connecting with colleagues, with people. A very social guy... The value in these groups is the content that people share... If you marginalize people...the quality of the group goes down.” (03:25–04:38)
• The original concept was drafted on the back of a napkin, listing what Dr. Glazier disliked about previous groups, which became foundational group rules.

Group Guidelines & Admin Philosophy

• No marginalizing, no hateful or hurtful comments, and no partisan political rhetoric.
• Strong and consistent moderation is key to group quality:
  • “You have to have a strong admin. And I think I was the right guy for that job.” (06:42)
  • “If somebody breaks a guideline, I warn them very professionally, and then if they do it again... they're out, and that's it. And there's no coming back.” (21:02–21:29)
• Stern, clear rules keep the “quality up as those [problematic] people go out.” (20:31–21:15)

Growth, Demographics & Engagement

• Group currently has over 47,000 members, with 83% ODs and optometry students, 10% opticians, and 6,000 international ODs.
• Daily, 33,000 people from the group log in and interact (13:01).
• Posts generate over 2.5 million comments a year (12:31).
  • Not all members are active posters—lurkers are also valued.
  • “If they're in there reading and they get some value out of it, then I'm thrilled. You don't have to post for me to be happy.” (18:47–19:27)

Value and Impact of the Community

• ODs on Facebook has served as a platform for:
  • Advocacy (supporting AOA, raising awareness for issues)
  • Fundraising for practices affected by disasters and for legislative efforts (over $150,000 raised) (22:33–24:57)
  • Peer-to-peer problem solving
  • Real-time clinical and practice management advice
  • Unfiltered doctor-to-doctor perspectives on products and services

Quality vs. Quantity & Reputation Management

• The balance between keeping conversations high-quality and being perceived as “ruling with an iron fist”:
  • “If you care about what people think about you, you're not going to run a community like this.” (21:47)
  • Dr. Glazier has had to remove even friends who broke the rules, underscoring his consistency and commitment to fairness.

Trends, Topics & the Profession’s Pulse

• Shift in content from majority practice management pre-COVID to being now predominantly clinical (65%) (28:34–30:25).
  • Driven partly by Dr. Glazier’s own interest, community habits, and the engagement power of clinical images/cases.
• Hot topics in practice management:
  • EHR/technology, front desk issues, financial management, AI, and daily operational challenges.
  • “AI is starting to be a bigger topic... understanding where it's going and how it might impact the profession.” (30:53)

AI, Social Media, and Industry Challenges

• Tech adoption initially drove fear and “Y2K-like” anxiety, but the conversation is turning to practical implementation (32:20–33:29).
  • “The very first thing you have to do is not think about AI... Ask people to describe different constraints they run into in their practice.” (34:15)
• Dr. Glazier stresses the need to identify real bottlenecks before applying AI solutions—referencing Eli Goldratt’s The Goal (39:13–40:08)
• The main concern: centralized control of AI, and potential for manipulating narratives. Push toward decentralization and cryptographically authenticated human identities. (34:15–36:52, 53:50)

Leveraging Social Media for Practice Growth

• What worked from 2011–2015 (SEO focus) is no longer as effective.
  • Today’s success relies on patient/community engagement, not just web presence.
  • “Your Facebook page is probably not going to get much engagement...a great way nowadays...is to set up a topical group on a subject patients are interested in.” (42:07–44:01)
  • “You have a captive audience of maybe 100 people who come and visit your practice...steering them towards a group...to provide them value.” (44:01)
• Authentic engagement trumps superficial or purely marketing interaction:
  • “In order to be engaged, you have to be engaging... People are attracted to authenticity.” (48:22–49:10)

The Future: Groups, Bots, and Human Connection

• The increasing presence of bots—35% of Twitter posts are now bot-generated—raises concerns about authenticity.
  • “The future of Facebook is just groups. Fake people, AI agents... we're almost there now.” (53:11–53:50)
  • Dr. Glazier observes younger practitioners joining Facebook just for his group and expects the platform’s main value to shift almost exclusively to niche communities.
• On combating bots: group entry barriers, cryptographic proof of humanity, and ever-evolving admin vigilance will be essential (53:11–55:29).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you marginalize people, if you make it so they don't want to share, then the quality of the group goes down.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (03:31)
• “I invited like 40 people...I went into clinic for about three hours...when I came back there were one hundred and twenty members...From then on I was on the hook, you know, to moderate it.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (07:28)
• “The secret to it growing...is staying true to the original mission and, and trying to be fair...when you have 47,000 cats to herd, you give people a warning and they repeat, they gotta go.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (06:42)
• “If you care about what people think about you, you're not going to run a community like this.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (21:47)
• “One of the things I'm most proud of...we've used the community many times to come to the aid of colleagues who've experienced devastating loss...we've raised money for states that are going for scope expansion. All told, over $150,000.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (22:33–24:57)
• “In social media, images are much more popular posts than posts without...the posts with pictures of cool retinas...get a lot of engagement.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (30:09)
• "The very first thing you have to do is not think about AI...I'm interested in getting a list. So if you identify constraints in optometry, there's opportunity to apply AI where there are no marketable solutions currently."
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (34:15)
• “The power but the responsibility of having a network...once you start to have people following you and paying attention to what you're saying, you get attention and that's what you want for your practice. But if you stop it, it's done, it's over and it's going to die.”
  — Dr. Alan Glazier (44:12)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:25 – 06:46: Dr. Glazier’s origin story and early online communities
• 07:03 – 10:48: Group guidelines and formation of ODs on Facebook
• 12:31 – 13:24: Group statistics, membership, and engagement
• 15:05 – 16:46: Social media for practice marketing—evolution and impact
• 20:31 – 21:47: Challenges of strict moderation and community management
• 22:33 – 24:57: Community-driven advocacy and charitable impact
• 28:34 – 30:25: How group conversations have shifted—clinical vs. management focus
• 32:20 – 34:15: AI in optometry: From fear and skepticism to practical use
• 39:13 – 40:08: The importance of identifying bottlenecks—The Goal reference
• 42:07 – 44:01: Adapting social media use for modern practice growth
• 53:11 – 55:29: The rising tide of bots, authentication, and the future of real community

Conclusion & Takeaways

This episode offers a deep and practical look at how one of optometry’s most important digital communities was built and is being sustained by strong, fair leadership and carefully crafted rules. Dr. Glazier’s insights underscore the necessity of high-quality, authentic engagement and the ongoing challenge of keeping professional spaces safe, productive, and human—even as AI-driven automation becomes ever more sophisticated. Listeners come away with actionable ideas for building their own engaged communities, leveraging social media authentically for practice growth, and thinking proactively about the evolving threats and opportunities facing the profession online.