Changing the Rules of the Game: How Do We Measure Success in Social Media?

A healthcare social media research article published in Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery, September 11, 2017

Title
Changing the Rules of the Game: How Do We Measure Success in Social Media?
Authors (alpha)
Aisling Hogan, Desmond Winter
Published
September 11, 2017
Journal
Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery
Impact Factor
.839
DOI
10.1055/s-0037-1604254
Pubmed
28924399
Altmetric
A healthcare social media research article published in Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery, September 11, 2017

Abstract

Ours will be the generation proud to say we shifted the sands of educational deserts by open access and proliferation, seeding of data sharing, and watering grassroots research in resource-compromised environments. Universal "social" media is defining features of modern professional life that provide powerful modes of knowledge acquisition/sharing to that end. Altmetric and other measurements stratify academic communications according to this alternate, online media presence (not academic penetrance). Are they meaningless, self-absorbed integers, or reliable yardsticks of scientific and educational prowess? Far beyond this trite, patronizing question from the minds of outdated, terrified technophobes, the real impact of "social" media is not narcissistic solipsism. Instant dissemination of contemporary surgical controversies on a truly global level drives improved (or at least reflective) health care for all. While a numerical assignment of value according to views, "likes," impressions, or "retweets" may seem meaningless to cynical, established academics, the impetus for universal improvement is self-evident. Electronic data and opinion sharing may not balance the inequity between low- and high-income countries, but it keeps it in perspective. The best way to shift desert sands is to blow on them constantly.

Altmetric

The Altmetric Attention Score is based on the attention a research article gets on the internet. Each coloured thread in the circle represents a different type of online attention and the number in the centre is the Altmetric Attention Score. The score is calculated based on two main sources of online attention: social media and mainstream news media.

Healthcare Social Media Research

See the full list of healthcare social media research articles with data from or reference to Symplur.
#hcsmR is a collaboration between Stanford Medicine X and Symplur.