JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social media (SM) has been recognized as a professional communication tool in the field of orthopaedic and trauma surgery. Its specific uses and perceived benefits and concerns however remain unexplored.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to identify the specific uses, perceived benefits and concerns of professional social media use among orthopedic and trauma surgeons in Germany.

Methods:

An online questionnaire was developed, which included questions of the purposes, perceived benefits, and concerns of professional SM use. The study was conducted between June 2022 and July 2022. Subgroup analysis was performed for sex (male vs. female), age (<60 years vs. ≥60 years) and type of workplace (practice vs. hospital).

Results:

A total of 208 participants answered the questionnaire (79.8% were male, 70.2% aged less than 60 years). Overall, the use of SM was low, and the most used platforms were employment oriented social media, messenger apps and Facebook. The highest use of SM was for professional networking. Conventional websites in occupied a dominating position across all uses. The key benefit of SM was professional networking. Under 50% stated that SM could enhance the communication with their patients, to keep up to date or to increase their professional visibility. In total 65.5% stated that SM use is time consuming, 43.9% that they lack application knowledge and 45.1% that they do not know what content to post. Additionally, 52.9% stated medico-legal concerns.

Conclusions:

Overall SM did not seem to be used actively amongst orthopaedic and trauma surgeons in Germany. The perceived advantages were low, while the perceived concerns were high. Adequate education and information material is needed to elucidate taw applications of SM and to address legal concerns.