Assessing the Current State of Twitter Usage by Spine Surgeons in the United States

Abstract

Background Twitter, one of the most widely used social media platforms, allows users to post short statements, media, and weblinks available for viewing and interaction. This study sought to characterize the way in which spine surgeons leverage Twitter as a professional tool and additionally, the extent to which the platform may be currently under-utilized. Methods A list of neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine surgeons was randomized and the first 500 individuals from each group were searched for on Twitter. For surgeons without accounts, it was recorded if they were mentioned in others’ tweets. Independent T-tests were performed for comparing quantitative variables between the two groups (tweets, number of followers, etc.) as well as comparing age with presence of account. Results Of all spine surgeons, 17% had accounts, 49% had no account but were mentioned, and 34% had no account but were not mentioned. There were no differences in twitter usage between genders, geographic region, nor neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine surgeons. The average age of those with and without an account was 51 and 55, respectively (p=.0004). While 22% of surgeons aged 50 and younger had accounts, only 14% of surgeons over 50 had accounts (p=.003). Conclusions In addition to younger surgeons being more likely to have an account, this study found a large discordance between the proportion of spine surgeons who actively engage on Twitter and those that are discussed on the platform by others.