Use of a Coordinated Social Media Strategy to Improve Dissemination of Research and Collect Solutions Related to Workforce Gender Equity

Abstract

Background: To increase awareness, search for solutions, and drive change, disparity-related research needs to be strategically disseminated. This study aimed to quantify whether a social media strategy could: (1) amplify dissemination of gender equity-related articles and (2) collect proposed solutions to gender equity issues. Methods: In April 2018, eight published journal articles covering separate gender equity issues were presented in a 1-hour Twitter chat hosted by Physician's Weekly. Metrics data were collected before, during, and after the chat. During the chat, one question related to each article was tweeted at a time. Qualitative data were extracted from responses and evaluated for thematic content. Results: In the 16-hour period during and following the chat, we tallied 1500 tweets from 294 participants and 8.6 million impressions (potential views). The Altmetric Attention Score of each article increased (average, 126.5 points; range, 91-208 points). Within the respective journal, the Altmetric Rank of seven articles improved (range, 3 to ‡19), while the eighth maintained its #1 rank. The one article for which share and download data were available experienced a 729% increase in shares following prechat posts and another 113% bump after the chat, a 1667% increase overall (n = 45-795). Similarly, downloads, and presumably reads, increased 712% following prechat posts and another 47% bump after the chat, a 1093% increase overall (n = 394-4700). We tallied 181 potential solutions to the eight gender equity-related questions. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that social media can be used strategically to increase the dissemination of research articles and collect solution-focused feedback.

The Use of Social Media by Female Physicians in an International Setting: A Mixed Methods Study of a Group WhatsApp Chat

“…Studies have shown the role of Twitter, for example, in promoting women physician's needs and expanding dissemination of research by female scientists. 7 A study of a closed Facebook group for the Hematology/ Oncology Women Physician Group found that the platform was beneficial for both professional medical concerns and for social support. 8 From a feminist theory lens, social media platforms may serve as important tools to promote inclusiveness and respect.…”

The Use of Social Media to Increase the Impact of Health Research: Systematic Review

“…Impact studies have reported the use of social media interventions to promote original research articles published in academic journals in the subject areas of clinical pain sciences (ie, PLOS ONE ) [ 48 ], cardiology (ie, Circulation ) [ 46 , 47 ], radiology [ 52 ], emergency health [ 51 ] public health (ie, International Journal of Public Health ) [ 49 ], and women’s health (various journals) [ 50 ].…”

“…We identified 4 randomized controlled experiments, further referred to as RCTs [ 46 , 47 , 49 , 51 ], and 3 quasi-experimental trials [ 48 , 50 , 52 ].…”

Using social media to disseminate research in infection prevention, hospital epidemiology, and antimicrobial stewardship

“…After an article is published, social media activity may increase the number of both downloads and eventual citations, particularly among those readily available to all readers, such as those with open access. 13,19,25,[30][31][32] Cawcutt et al 13 demonstrated that strategic social media dissemination of publications (via Twitter) can statistically increase the alternative metrics of a given article. A study that investigated the correlation between social media (specifically Twitter) and the conventional bibliometric of journal citations was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR).…”

“…10 The evolution of social media has created a new venue for rapid dissemination of information, advocacy on critical issues, and education to a broader audience. [11][12][13] Raising awareness of HAIs and AS research among healthcare providers, administrators, and even patients is the first step in improving the speed of change in clinical practice. 4 In this review, we discuss how social media platforms provide a conduit of implementation science for sharing research with broader audiences and how they may impact bibliometrics (statistical measures of the impact and reach of studies).…”