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Social Media in Vascular Surgery
Background
History of Social Media
Social media is defined as “forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content.” Early social networking websites can be traced back to the end of the 20th century with sites such as Classmates and SixDegrees, with expanding popularity in the early 2000s with Friendster and Myspace. However, the social media culture as we know it today was rooted in the rising popularity of Facebook since its launch in 2004 and has grown to encompass multiple different platforms in addition to social networking such as photo and video sharing, blogging, and collaborative projects. It is estimated that more than 70% of American adults use at least one social media platform, with the 18- to 29-year-old age group being the highest utilizers, and companies, societies, and professional groups have all started to embrace this technology as ways to share information. This usage has increased significantly over the last 15 years, with Facebook and YouTube having the highest number of users according to the Pew Research Center ( Fig. 206.1 and Table 206.1 ).
TABLE 206.1
Social Media Platforms Most Commonly Used by U.S. Adults
| Social Media Platform Used | Percentage of U.S. Adults Who Use Social Media Platforms |
|---|---|
| YouTube | 73% |
| 69% | |
| 37% | |
| 28% | |
| 27% | |
| Snapchat | 24% |
| 22% | |
| 20% | |
| 11% |
Percentage of U.S. adults who use social media platforms as of February 2019, according to the Pew Research Center.
Social Media Use in Vascular Surgery
The specialty of vascular surgery is no stranger to the incorporation of evolving technology into daily practice and much of its success over the decades has been due to the welcoming of new technologies into the specialty. Social media has become exponentially popular over the past 20 years and medical professionals have seen success in utilizing it as a tool to improve health education, increase one’s recognition and reputation, promote one’s medical business, and establish professional connections. Many individual vascular surgeons, practices, divisions, training programs and institutions have adopted the use of social media for these benefits. Even vascular surgical societies and journals have begun to establish their social media presence. The Society for Vascular Surgery has created accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn in addition to its own website, as have multiple other regional and national societies. While the usage of this technology in the field of vascular surgery has not been extensively studied, failing to capitalize on this communication tool may prove to be a missed opportunity. However, with the advent of the incorporation of social media platforms into the practice of vascular surgery, a new set of risks, ethical challenges, and potential downfalls have surfaced. This chapter outlines the main platforms of social media available today, provides potential usages for each site, and discusses risks and concerns with social media use in vascular surgery practice.
Select Available Social Media Platforms And Differences In Their Usage
Facebook is a social networking site that focuses on establishing online relationships among people. Originally aimed at networking college students, the site has grown to more than 2.5 billion users worldwide and is open to anyone at least 13 years of age. It is one of the most commonly used social media outlets, and networking within the site can occur in one of several ways after creation of an online profile. Individuals can search for people they know or wish to network with and request to be their “friend.” They can then post text updates, pictures, videos, links, or other multimedia that their Facebook friends (or other people depending on the post’s privacy setting) are able to view, react to or comment on. Facebook users are also able to connect with other users through direct text or video messaging. In addition, individuals can formulate or join restricted or private common-interest groups in which members can post and share updates. Depending on the group’s settings, membership to the group may be restricted to those who are either invited in by existing members or request to join. The group’s administrator must then grant access in order for an individual to join the group. Members of private Facebook groups are then able to view, react to and comment on existing group posts or add their own posts. The personal profiles of members of a private group may be restricted in such a way that other group members cannot view their full profiles unless granted access. This platform is particularly appealing for the creation of patient support groups in which disease-specific groups can offer each other information, support, and different treatment opportunities such as clinical trials. From an institutional or business perspective, Facebook can provide targeted advertising based off user demographics, making it appealing as a branding or marketing tool.
Twitter is a social media site launched in 2006 on which users can post short messages known as tweets. Other users can then read these tweets, like or comment on them, or share them (known as retweeting). Considered a microblogging service, tweets are limited to 280 characters as of 2017, prior to which the limit had been 140 characters. Users can choose to follow other users, of which there are over 300 million, but can see postings by any user by searching for the user or by searching for posts by searchable keywords called “hashtags” (which are preceded by the # sign). Anyone can comment on any post, making the platform useful for information dissemination, but also a prime domain for cyber-bullies or “bots,” accounts that can post content without human input. Both the number of vascular surgery tweets and the number of users tweeting about vascular surgery topics have dramatically increased since 2015, with students, vascular surgery trainees, vascular surgeons, other physicians, patients, vascular surgery societies, academic institutions, and journals all occupying this space.
YouTube
YouTube is an online video-sharing website created in 2005 and currently owned by Google. Users can create their own channels where they are able to upload videos which can be searchable and viewed by the online general public. Viewers, in addition, are able to subscribe to a channel as well as like or comment on a video. They also have the ability to share the link to a YouTube video on other social media websites. Popularity is usually gauged by the number of views for a video or the number of subscribers for a channel. Videos on this platform are searchable by keywords and are a powerful way to deliver education to patients, vascular surgery trainees, or other members of the public regarding providers, disease processes, or resources as provided by an institution or provider. However, this platform is also a potential propagator of misinformation. Multiple studies have demonstrated the presence of substandard information on various different topics, which may lead to patient confusion, misunderstanding, or false expectations. ,
Created in 2010, Instagram is a social networking application primarily geared towards the sharing of photos and short videos. This social media application was purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion. Known for its feature to apply photographic filters to images, Instagram allows its users to like or comment on posts and follow other users, including public figures and celebrities. This application also includes the capability of direct messaging between users and uses searchable keywords identified by hashtags (#). With currently over 1 billion Instagram accounts, users have the potential to gain followers to expand their visibility and influence, and may be a tool that could be used by healthcare providers in education, branding, and marketing, particularly for medical specialties that are “visually-rich” such as plastic surgery and dermatology. The ability to post pictures makes it appealing for education in vascular surgery where surgical techniques or radiographic findings may be displayed. Posts on this platform may be linked to an individual’s other social media accounts such as Facebook.
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