Social media in cardiovascular medicine: a contemporary review

Abstract

Social media increasingly impact both the private and professional lives of the majority of the population, including individuals engaged in cardiovascular healthcare and research. Healthcare providers across the world use social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook to find medical and scientific information, to follow scientific meetings, to discuss individual clinical cases with colleagues, and to engage with patients. While social media provide a means for fast, interactive and accessible communication without geographic boundaries, their use to obtain and disseminate information has limitations and the potential threats are not always clearly understood. Governance concerns include a lack of rigorous quality control, bias due to the pre-selection of presented content by filter algorithms, and the risk of inadvertent breach of patient confidentiality. This article provides information and guidance regarding the role and use of social media platforms in cardiovascular medicine, with an emphasis on the new opportunities for the dissemination of scientific information and continuing education that arise from their responsible use.

Keywords: Cardiovascular medicine; Cardiovascular science; Digital health; Social media; e-Cardiology.

Graphical abstract

Figure 1

Potential impressions on Twitter for five conference-related hashtags in the time period 3 days before to 3 days following the respective conference. Data provided by Symplur, a healthcare social media analytics company which provides insights from the Healthcare Social Graph^® database. ESC Congress 2019 is the biggest medical conference that Symplur has ever measured. Data as of 9 January 2020.

Figure 2

Top 20 most frequently used hashtags in cardiology, by cardiology professionals. Data provided by Symplur, for 15 September 2018–15 September 2019.

Figure 3

Twitter handles listed as the top 10 influencers during European Society of Cardiology Congress 2019, from 31 August to 4 September 2019 (#ESCCongress). Data provided by Symplur.

Figure 4

Number of referrals (visits) and papers’ downloads coming from Twitter to the websites of 7 out of the 13 European Society of Cardiology journals, comparing the initial 4 months (November 2017 to February 2018) of @ESC_Journals Twitter presence with the corresponding 4 months 1 year previously (November 2016 to February 2017). Data provided by Oxford University Press.