Numbers needed to tweet: social media and impact on surgery

Abstract

Surgeons 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 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 question 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.

Keywords: Cancer research; Communication; Social media; Surgical oncology; Twitter.