The Digital Age of Academic Medicine: The Role of Social Media

Social media is playing an increasingly significant role in academic medicine to improve education, disseminate research, and help stakeholders remain abreast of new research. There are multiple social media platforms that have demonstrated benefits in academic medicine including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, podcasts, and blogs. Other emerging platforms have the potential to further impact the future of academic medicine. Within the established platforms, there have been many successful initiatives. Visual Abstracts allow social media users to quickly preview the key findings of a study through engaging pictures and clear diagrams. Twitter journal clubs allow scientists around the world to discuss and engage with research questions, topics, and articles. Facebook's International Hernia Collaboration is a forum for sharing clinical best practices and research that benefits a wide range of audiences. Social media use offers benefits to journals, researchers, and readers, yet there are professionalism and privacy considerations, which will remain as individuals find further applications of social media in academic medicine.