Contemporary social media engagement by breast surgeons

Abstract

There continues to be a steady rise in the use of social media among healthcare professionals. We present an overview of social media use among breast surgeons within the United Kingdom including demographic variations and some of the factors that underpin these trends. The benefits and drawbacks of open social media platforms are also considered.

Social media engagement amongst 2017 colorectal surgery Tripartite Meeting attendees: updates on contemporary social media use

“…SM engagement by colorectal surgeons has been previously described and compared with other specialities . Our study provides the latest trends in SM engagement by analysing a large international cohort group of colorectal surgeons.…”

“…Nevertheless, LinkedIn remains the more popular SM platform of the two. The preferential engagement in LinkedIn over Twitter amongst surgeons was also reported in vascular, plastic and breast surgery [13][14][15]. Nonetheless, with the rapidly increasing use of Twitter, (including studies on the '#colorectalsurgery' hashtag) [3,16,17], it is likely that Twitter use will rise both within this speciality and within other fields.…”

The past, the present and the future of UK breast reconstruction— are our practices outdated in 2020?

“…com contain large volumes of breast surgery content (17). Social media can be utilised to provide IBR information, connect patients to resources and allow patients to be able to anonymously interact with other verified patients who have had IBR and are willing to share their experiences (18,19). During the initial treatment phase following the diagnosis of breast cancer patients are rightly focused on oncological aspects of treatment, and some may not wish to prioritise immediate reconstruction.…”

Increased engagement with social media in colorectal surgery

“…Reports from vascular surgery (4.8% Twitter, 46% LinkedIn) , plastic surgery (22% Twitter, 52% LinkedIn) and breast surgery (7% Twitter, 35% LinkedIn) have shown higher levels of SM engagement by surgeons in these specialities. Additionally, recent studies on Twitter usage show an increase in use by surgeons at conferences within urology and breast surgery, although SM activity levels associated with international colorectal surgery conferences have not previously been reported .…”