Social Media Influence Does Not Reflect Scholarly or Clinical Activity in Real Life

Abstract

Background - Social media has become a major source of communication in medicine. We aimed to understand the relationship between physicians' social media influence and their scholarly and clinical activity. Methods - We identified attending, US electrophysiologists on Twitter. We compared physician Twitter activity to (a) scholarly publication record (h-index) and (b) clinical volume according to CMS. The ratio of observed vs. expected Twitter followers (obs/exp) was calculated based on each scholarly (K-index) and clinical activity. Results - We identified 284 physicians, with mean Twitter age of 5.0 (SD 3.1) years and median 568 followers (25 th , 75 th : 195, 1146). They had a median 34.5 peer-reviewed papers (25 th , 75 th : 14, 105), 401 citations (25 th , 75 th : 102, 1677), and h-index 9 (25 th , 75 th : 4, 19.8). The median K-index was 0.4 (25 th , 75 th : 0.15, 1.0), ranging 0.0008 - 29.2. The median EP procedures was 77 (25 th , 75 th : 0, 160) and E&M visits 264 (25 th , 75 th : 59, 516) in 2017. The top 1% electrophysiologists for followers accounted for 20% of all followers, 17% of status updates, had a mean h-index of 6 (vs. 15 for others, p=0.3), and accounted for 1% of procedural and E&M volumes. They had a mean K-index of 21 (vs. 0.77 for others, p<0.0001), and clinical obs/exp follower ratio of 17.9 and 18.1 for procedures and E&M (p<0.001 each, vs. others [0.81 for each]). Conclusions - Electrophysiologists are active on Twitter, with modest influence often representative of scholarly and clinical activity. However, the most influential physicians appear to have relatively modest scholarly and clinical activity.

Healing Anthropocene Syndrome: Planetary Health Requires Remediation of the Toxic Post-Truth Environment

“…In an era of unprecedented global challenges-poverty, socioeconomic disparities, climate change, biodiversity losses, environmental degradation, non-communicable disease prevalence, unabated rates of mental disorders, war and aggression, and bloated prison systems, to name but a few-the political and policy implications of post-truth are colossal. The unforgettable events of January 6th, 2021-the invasion of the United States In the Anthropocene, almost everything is morphed into showbiz-as predicted by Postman, even scientists and physicians are heralded by their social media "Kardashian Index" [196]; likes and retweets among academics and clinicians are a form of currency, even though the loudest voices on Twitter and elsewhere may have low scholarly output and/or clinical experience [197] and the extent to which "stars" of science and medicine break though the echo chamber of like-minded followers remains unknown [198]; given that just 10 percent of Twitter users are generating 80 percent of tweets in the US, diversity of thought would seem wanting [199].…”

“…In the Anthropocene, almost everything is morphed into showbiz-as predicted by Postman, even scientists and physicians are heralded by their social media "Kardashian Index" [196]; likes and retweets among academics and clinicians are a form of currency, even though the loudest voices on Twitter and elsewhere may have low scholarly output and/or clinical experience [197] and the extent to which "stars" of science and medicine break though the echo chamber of like-minded followers remains unknown [198]; given that just 10 percent of Twitter users are generating 80 percent of tweets in the US, diversity of thought would seem wanting [199].…”

Virtual Transformation and the Use of Social Media: Cardiac Electrophysiology Education in the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…This too can spread rapidly through SoMe and be practice changing, but without sufficient scientific basis. SoMe should not be used in isolation, but rather, as a tool to complement education, leading the learner to continue to seek out multiple, vetted sources of information [ 42 , 44 ].…”

“…The ramifications of COI disclosure for these types of SoMe interactions represent a gray area in what has traditionally been covered by COI rules. Depending on the number of followers and influence, some forms of SoMe activity may have much broader impact and relevance than activities which have traditionally been governed by COI, such as speaking at an industry-supported dinner [ 44 ]. Developing approaches for managing COI on SoMe is likely to pose significant challenges and will require creative and out-of-the-box thinking.…”