Numbers needed to tweet: Social media and surgery

Publication date: Available online 12 October 2018Source: European Journal of Surgical OncologyAuthor(s): Kjetil SøreideAbstractSurgeons have taken to social media using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram for both personal and professional purposes. In an age of global access to everything there is a risk for information overload, and thus a need to collate and curate. Hashtags going viral in have had a huge social influence, e.g. #ILookLikeASurgeon. SoMe has become an instrument for connecting, sharing and mentoring. It is a tool for educating the next generation of surgeons. For researchers and journals the questions remains whether the input required to tap into SoMe platforms is rewarded with a similar gain in output, reputation and exposure. Summarized information in visual abstracts may help disseminate study-results to a wider audience, but the effect of a #visualabstract may be specialty-specific. Currently, there is little knowledge as to the ‘numbers needed to tweet’ in order to make impact on figures such as downloads, citations, and eventually impact factor.
Source: European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO) - Category: Surgery Source Type: research