Use of Twitter in communicating living solid organ donation information to the public: An exploratory study of living donors and transplant professionals

Abstract

Background: As transplant centers start leveraging Twitter for information dissemination and public engagement, it is important to understand current living solid organ donation-related Twitter use. Methods: We identified public Twitter profiles available in 01/2017 that referenced living organ donation and analyzed use of donation-related Twitter handles, names, or profile information. Tweets were manually abstracted and qualitatively analyzed for common themes. Social media influence of those tweeting about living donation was evaluated using Klout score. Results: We identified 93 donors, 61 professionals, 12 hospitals, and 19 organizations that met eligibility criteria. Social media influence was similar across these groups (p=0.4). Donors (16%) and organizations (23%) were more likely than professionals (7%) or hospitals (0%) to include transplant-related educational information in their profiles (p=0.007). Living donation-related tweets were most commonly donation stories (33%), news reports (20%), reports about new transplant research (15%), and sharing transplant candidates’ searches for donors (14%). Conclusions This exploratory study of living donors and transplant professionals, hospitals, and organizations on Twitter provides insight into how the social media platform may be used to communicate about and disseminate information about living donation.

Media use and organ donation willingness: A latent profile analysis from Chinese residents

“…For example, setting up online organ donation registration links ( 34 ), developing smart phone applications to increase living organ donation ( 35 ), implementing publicity and training programs to find living donor ( 36 ), etc. In addition, medical professionals in organ transplantation have begun to explore how to expand and educate the public through online platforms and social media ( 37 ). This made the smart phone-based “high-frequency media use” and “ordinary media use” people received more knowledge about organ donation, more objective understanding, and higher willingness to accept organ donation.…”

TikTok and Transplantation: A Trending Opportunity

“…Emerging data show that TikTok may be a meaningful tool for health communication. 1 Although Facebook and Twitter have been shown to promote deceased organ donation and expand living-donor transplantation, 2,3 the potential role of TikTok in transforming public education about organ donation and transplantation remains unstudied.…”

Insights From Transplant Professionals on the Use of Social Media: Implications and Responsibilities

“…Social media (SoMe) is now widely accepted and used in medicine and considered a measure of scholarly output to support academic advancement at some institutions (1)(2)(3)(4). In the field of transplantation, SoMe platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, have been leveraged to promote both living and deceased donation, and for public engagement and outreach (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). These platforms are an important source of information on transplantation in many low and middle-income countries (12).…”