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. 2021 Feb 28;406(3):505–520. doi: 10.1007/s00423-021-02135-7

Table 1.

Social media platforms and use among surgeons for research dissemination

Type Description Examples Examples of use
Social networks Software that allows people to connect, either with known contacts or strangers who share similar interests via groups and hashtags, and share multimedia and links Facebook, Instagram Some journals have Facebook and Instagram accounts to share papers and visual abstracts, and some groups such as the International Bariatric Club hold themed online chats
Business networks As above, with a focus on sharing professional information and resumes LinkedIn Share professional updates and blog posts, participate in group conversations
Science and research networks Allow researchers to log and share publications and other academic work ResearchGate, Mendeley Log and share papers, request access to papers that are behind a paywall
Blogging A way to publish articles online in various formats in a user-controlled way WordPress, Tumblr Editorialize and summarize work in plain language. Useful for public engagement
Microblogging Character-limited posts, able to share multimedia and URL links Twitter Used by large number of journals and researchers to share research summaries, links to papers, and teaching cases
Video sharing Allow users to “vlog” and share videos to followers or the general public YouTube, AIS (Advances in Surgery), WebSurg Used for sharing educational videos, lectures, and videos of surgical techniques
Gaming networks Allow players to play together, stream games, and chat online Twitch Potential for simulation training
Wiki-based Collaborative editing of an information source Wikipedia, SAGES Surgical Wiki Can contribute to evidence-based surgical knowledge, citing scientific papers as sources
Group-messaging service Allows users to send instant messages across different platforms to contacts and channels WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, WeChat Can share papers with contacts
Discussion fora Website that allows social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion Discord, Reddit Ability to chat online about new papers