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Social Media Utilization at an Academic Radiology Practice

Posted Dec 31, 2017 Updated Apr 10, 2023
By Nicholas A. Koontz MD , Aaron P. Kamer MD , Sean C. Dodson MD , Alisha E. Capps MD , Courtney M. Tomblinson MD , Bron P. Brown MD , Mark S. Frank MD , Darel E. Heitkamp MD
11 min read

Rationale and Objectives

We report social media (SoMe) utilization trends at an academic radiology department, highlighting differences between trainees and faculty and between Baby Boomers versus Generation X and Millennials.

Materials and Methods

An anonymous online survey regarding SoMe utilization and SoMe-based educational curriculum was distributed to all radiologists (trainees and faculty) in our department. Regular chi-square, ordered (Mantel-Haenszel) chi-square, and Fischer exact tests were performed.

Results

The survey instrument was sent to 172 radiologists with a 65% completion rate ( N = 112). Eighty-three percent ( n = 92) of the respondents use SoMe, with Facebook (67%, n = 75), YouTube (57%, n = 64), Instagram (26%, n = 29), and Twitter (21%, n = 23) as the most commonly used platforms. Eighty-one percent ( n = 91) use SoMe for 30 minutes or less per day. Thirty-five percent ( n = 39) reported previously using SoMe for educational purposes, although 66% ( n = 73) would be willing to join SoMe for educational activities. The faculty are more likely than trainees to avoid using SoMe (30% vs 9%, P < 0.03). Trainees are more likely than faculty to find an electronic case-based curriculum valuable (95% vs 83%, P < 0.05) and are willing to spend more time on cases ( P < 0.01). Baby Boomers are less interested in joining SoMe for educational activities than Generation X and Millennials (24% vs 73%, P = 0.0001).

Conclusions

Generation gaps between trainees and faculty, as well as between Generation X and Millennials versus Baby Boomers, exist with regard to the use of SoMe, which may be underutilized in radiology education.

Introduction

Social media (SoMe) is pervasive in modern life. Recent data from the Pew Research Center suggests that 85% of adults in the United States are now Internet users, a sizeable proportion of which utilize one or more SoMe applications (apps), such as Facebook ( facebook.com , Menlo Park, CA), Twitter ( twitter.com , San Francisco, CA), YouTube ( youtube.com , San Bruno, CA), Instagram ( instagram.com , Menlo Park, CA), Snapchat ( snapchat.com , Venice, CA), or WhatsApp ( whatsapp.com , Mountain View, CA) . This rate of utilization has grown dramatically over the past decade, with 65% of American adults now using SoMe, up from just 7% in 2005 . Although the usage of several SoMe platforms has begun leveling off over the past couple years, utilization continues to hold steady, particularly among young adults .

In recent years, SoMe use has gained substantial traction in the medical community. In radiology, it has been promoted as a successful tool to increase the visibility of radiology departments ; to promote research and academic endeavors on a national or international stage ; to engage radiologists within departments ; to increase readership and grow audiences of medical journals ; and to foster relationships between radiologists, referring physicians, and patients . In fact, some data suggest that private practice radiology practices have embraced SoMe more fervently and effectively than academic radiology practices .

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Materials and Methods

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Survey

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Data Collection

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Statistical Analysis

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Results

Respondent Demographics

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TABLE 1

Demographics of Social Media Use Survey Respondents

Level of Training Percent of Total, % ( n ) First-year resident (PGY-2) 8.9 (10) Second-year resident (PGY-3) 10.7 (12) Third-year resident (PGY-4) 8.9 (10) Fourth-year resident (PGY-5) 9.8 (11) Radiology fellow (PGY-6+) 10.7 (12) Radiology faculty 50.9 (57) Total respondents_N_ = 112

Generation Percent of Total, % ( n ) Generation X + Millennials \* 84.7 (94) Baby Boomers † 15.3 (17) Total respondents_N_ = 111 ‡

PGY, postgraduate year.

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SoMe Utilization

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Figure 1, SoMe platforms utilized by respondents. Among all respondents, Facebook was most commonly utilized (67%), followed by YouTube (57%), Instagram (26%), Twitter (21%), WhatsApp (19%), and Snapchat (12%). Other platforms utilized by respondents include Flickr, MySpace, Tinder, Grindr, Reddit, and Telegram (each <1%). Overall, SoMe utilization is high (83% of the respondents), but the faculty were significantly less likely to use SoMe than trainees (faculty rate of non-SoMe utilization 25% vs. trainee non-SoMe utilization 9%, P = 0.0292). SoMe, social media.

Figure 2, Reported daily time spent on social media. Although trainees spend more time daily on social media, the majority (81%) of all respondents (trainees + faculty) report using it for 30 minutes or less per day.

Figure 3, SoMe use for education. Among the surveyed radiologists, prior use of SoMe for education purposes was low (35%) with similar utilization reported between trainees and faculty. A substantial number of radiologists (66%) reported willingness to join SoMe to participate in future educational activities, although Generation X and Millennials reported significantly greater willingness to join SoMe for educational activities than Baby Boomers (Generation X and Millennials 73%, n = 68, vs Baby Boomers 24%, n = 4; P = 0.0001). SoMe, social media.

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Respondent Educational Content Preferences

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Trainees vs Faculty

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Generation X and Millennials vs Baby Boomers

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Discussion

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Conclusions

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Appendix

Social Media Utilization Survey

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Academic Radiology, Volume 25, Issue 1
Journals General Radiology
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