Social media trends in dermatology, dermatopathology, and pathology publications: The social construction of medical subdisciplines

Is Social Media Here to Stay?: Survey Results Indicate Increasing Pathologist Interest and Engagement Over Time

CONTEXT.—

Social media has become widely adopted by pathologists and other physicians for professional purposes. While engagement has likely increased over time, there remain few concrete data regarding attitudes toward its use.

OBJECTIVE.—

To assess pathologists' use of and attitudes toward social media over time.

DESIGN.—

We created a survey regarding personal and professional use of social media and circulated it via multiple channels in December 2017 and again in February 2022. Results of the 2 surveys were compared for statistically significant differences.

RESULTS.—

The 2017 survey was completed by 97 participants, and the 2022 survey by 305 participants. Respondents were predominantly female and academics, included pathologists in all age categories and all time-in-practice length. In both surveys, Twitter (now X) was the most popular platform for professional use and Facebook was the most popular for personal use. Professional barriers to social media use remained consistent between the 2 surveys, including the amount of time required. Education was seen as the main benefit of social media use in both surveys, while other benefits such as networking and increasing professional visibility were endorsed significantly less often in the second survey. While the second survey received more than 3 times as many responses as the first, several aspects of social media use (mainly demographics) remained similar during the timeframe, while other aspects (such as usage and perceived values) decreased.

CONCLUSIONS.—

Pathologists continue to find social media valuable. Barriers remain, though overall pathologists of all ages and practice settings appear receptive to using social media to further educational and other opportunities.

Cytopathology in the era of social media

In today's medical landscape, social media (SoMe) platforms have expanded their reach beyond mere communication and entertainment, making a significant impact in the pathology field, including cytopathology. In recent years, SoMe platforms have become increasingly adopted by cytopathologists, facilitating continued education, professional networking, enhancing patient engagement, and entertainment. This adoption has influenced the professional growth of cytopathologists, and at its best, has led to the establishment of a robust professional online presence and ultimately contributed to leadership positions, fellowship opportunities, and academic promotions. Moreover, the integration of SoMe into the academic field has shown a profound impact on the visibility of academic journals and has provided a platform for lower-impact factor journals to expand their reach, ultimately increasing article citation rates and positively contributing to journal impact factor growth. SoMe platforms created a modern avenue for conference networking that has revolutionized knowledge dissemination and enhanced real-time engagement. The advantages of SoMe have extended to a global scale, positively enhancing professional expertise sharing, facilitating effective communication and teleconsultation worldwide, and reaching developing countries. Drawing insights from the recent medical literature and the practical insight from the experts' personal experience, this article provides a comprehensive review of how SoMe and cytopathology intersect to create new opportunities, facilitating informed discussions, global collaboration, and advancements in the field of cytopathology. This article also delves into the challenges surrounding SoMe platform navigation and addresses ethical and regulatory concerns, providing guidelines on what to post and what not to post on SoMe platforms.

Navigating the Multidimensional Impact of Living with Hidradenitis Suppurativa: An In-Depth Netnographic Study on Social Media Platforms

INTRODUCTION

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin condition causing considerable distress. It impacts mobility, social interaction, and quality of life. In Brazil, there is a notable gap in epidemiological data and patient experiences regarding HS.

METHODS

This study, spanning 2019 to 2022, employed netnography to probe the experiences of Brazilian patients with HS. This approach gleans insights from online interactions, offering a direct view into patients' lives.

RESULTS

Notably, the data illuminated the challenges patients face, such as difficulties in obtaining a diagnosis and the complexities involved in managing a chronic, and often debilitating, condition. Furthermore, patients' experiences with various treatments, encompassing antibiotics, biologic agents, lifestyle alterations, surgical procedures, and alternative remedies, were also examined.

CONCLUSION

By undertaking a longitudinal analysis of patient interactions, the study aimed to offer a richer understanding of HS, from its diagnosis to its treatment. It underscores the necessity for a more patient-centered approach when managing this condition. We hope that this enhanced understanding can facilitate better care for those affected by HS.

Social Media Use Among Academic Hand Surgeons

Purpose

Social media has become increasingly prevalent among the general population in the past decade. We examined the current prevalence of social media use among academic orthopedic-trained and plastic surgery-trained hand surgeons in the United States.

Methods

All publicly available hand surgery faculty across the nation were analyzed for their public social media usage, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and personal websites. Comparisons of social media usage between orthopedic-trained and plastic surgery-trained hand surgeons, male and female academic hand surgeons, hand surgeons from different regions of the United States (East, West, Midwest, and South), and years of experience were analyzed.

Results

A total of 469 academic hand surgeons were included. Among academic hand surgeons in the United States, LinkedIn was the most common platform used (40.3%), followed by Facebook (15.78%), a personal website (13.86%), Twitter (12.37%), and Instagram (4.05%). Plastic surgery hand surgeons had more of a presence than orthopedic hand surgeons on Instagram (8.26% vs 2.59%, P < .01)) and Twitter (19.01% vs 10.06%, P < .01). Male hand surgeons were more likely than female hand surgeons to use LinkedIn (41.19% vs 34.85%, P = .04). Southern (18.89%) and Eastern (14.36%) surgeons used personal websites more than Western (6.52%) and Midwestern (4.60%) surgeons (P = .03).

Conclusions

Despite the widely known use of social media among plastic and aesthetic surgeons, this study shows the use of web-based marketing strategies to be quite rare in the academic hand surgery setting.

Clinical Relevance

Our study shows that throughout the United States, academic hand surgeons use social media at low rates. We suggest that academic plastic surgery and orthopedic hand surgeons throughout the United States consider having a larger social media presence to expand advertising, improve patient education, and enhance networking among their practices. Social media can be a valuable tool and will likely only increase in popularity in the coming years.