Synergizing Digital and Print: Leveraging Spine Surgeons' Social Media to Transform Publishing and Society Interaction.

Aims: Individuals use social media for various health-related purposes, such as gathering information about their illnesses, contacting healthcare professionals, learning about other patients’ experiences with doctors, and making informed decisions when selecting doctors. The aims of this study are (I) to evaluate orthopaedic patients’ utilisation of social media and (II) to ascertain the factors that are of greatest importance to patients in relation to orthopaedic surgeons’ social media accounts. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 1018 patients in the orthopaedic outpatient department between November and December 2023. Patients filled out a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions about patients’ personal information (gender, age, and education level), social media preferences, social media experiences, and the content of orthopaedic surgeons’ social media accounts. Results: 80.4% of the orthopedic patients surveyed were actively using at least one social media platform. Within the group of social media users, Instagram stood out as the most preferred platform, with a usage rate of 82.4%. Patients reported that 45.8% believe it is essential for doctors to maintain a presence on social media Patients were most interested (65.1%) in educational videos on orthopaedic surgeons’ social media accounts. Conclusion: The vast majority of orthopaedic patients are active users of social media, and a significant proportion of orthopaedic patients would like their doctors to have a social media presence. Orthopaedic surgeons should adapt their social media strategies to align with their patient population in order to effectively reach and engage with them.

People have done various ways to get information to fulfil their information needs. Until the presence of social media that changes lifestyles, thinking patterns, social society, and education. The presence of Instagram social media is one of the contemporary social media that is of interest to various groups to access information including lectures. This research aims: (1) To describe the motives for using Instagram social media @fuadiainponorogo as information media for FUAD IAIN Ponorogo students class of 2020. (2) To analyse the fulfilment of information needs of FUAD IAIN Ponorogo students class of 2020 on Instagram social media @fuadiainponorogo as information media. The method used is a qualitative descriptive approach. Data analysis using Miles and Hubberman, namely data reduction, data presentation, data verification, and conclusion drawing. Research results: First, the motives for utilising social media Instagram @fuadiainponorogo as information media are four in the MAIN model, namely information arises because of the use of Instagram @fuadiainponorogo as the dissemination of lecture information. Entertainment is seen from posting video reels that follow the trend. Social interaction arises from the interaction between the Instagram account admin @fuadiainponorogo and followers. Personal identity because Instagram account followers @fuadiainponorogo average student Faculty of Ushuluddin, Adab and Da'wah. Second, fulfilling the need for information on the Instagram account @fuadiainponorogo is enough to meet the information needs of students of the Faculty of Ushuluddin, Adab and Da'wah class of 2020 as an information media that requires more lecture information posts.

Prospective observational study. The objective of this study is to identify correlates of search ranking among academic pedigree, online ratings, and social media following. Patients increasingly rely on online search in selecting healthcare providers. When choosing a spine surgeon, patients typically value surgical skill and experience as well as demeanor/bedside manner. It is unclear whether current search engine ranking algorithms reflect these preferences. A Google.com search for the top 25 spine surgeon websites by search ranking was conducted for each of the largest 25 American cities. Resulting websites were then perused for academic pedigree, experience, and practice characteristics. Surgeons' research output and impact were then quantified via number of publications and H-index. Online ratings and followers in various social media outlets were also noted. These variables were assessed as possible correlates of search ranking via linear regression and multivariate analyses of variance. A total of 625 surgeons were included. Three categorical variables were identified as significant correlates of higher mean Google search ranking-orthopedics (vs. neurosurgery) as a surgical specialty (P = 0.023), board certification (P = 0.024), and graduation from a top 40 residency program (P = 0.046). Although the majority of the identified surgeons received an allopathic medical education, there was no significant difference in the mean rank of surgeons who had an MD versus DO medical degree (P = 0.530). Additionally, none of the continuous variables collected, including years in practice (P = 0.947), publications (P = 0.527), H-index (P = 0.278), social media following such as on Facebook (P = 0.105), or online ratings such as on Healthgrades (P = 0.080), were significant correlates of Google search ranking. Google search rankings do not always align with patient preferences, currently promoting orthopedic over neurosurgical specialists, graduation from top residency programs, and board certification, while largely ignoring academic pedigree, research, social media presence, and online ratings. 3.

PURPOSE: Social media has revolutionized communication in society and has become an important interface between patients, trainees, and physicians for education, networking, and marketing. A growing number of surgeons are embracing this trend by increasing their social media presence. Many studies have investigated the benefits of a surgeon’s web presence in plastic and aesthetic surgery, but a paucity of data exists in use among academic hand surgeons. The objective of this study was to evaluate social media use in fellowship trained, academic hand surgeons and to investigate differences between orthopaedic and plastic surgery trained hand surgeons. METHODS: Hand surgery fellowship programs were identified from the ASSH website, and a list of faculty members from each respective program was compiled. A search was performed for faculty members on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and personal websites. The respective accounts and/or personal websites were investigated for any content related to hand surgery; accounts with personal content only were not included. Faculty members were analyzed by sex, board certification status, subspecialty of residency training (plastic surgery versus orthopaedic surgery), years in practice, geographical region (east, west, south, or midwest), and professional presence on a personal website or accessible social media platform. Analysis of variance and student t tests were performed to evaluate the statistical significance (P = 0.05) of differences between groups. RESULTS: A total of 469 academic hand surgeons were included. Among academic hand surgeons in the United States, LinkedIn is the most common platform utilized at 40.3%, followed by Facebook (15.78%), a personal website (13.86%), Twitter (12.37%), and Instagram (4.05%). Plastic hand surgeons are more present on Instagram (8.26% versus 2.59%) and Twitter (19.01% versus 10.06%) (P = 0.0062837 and P = 0.009921, respectively). Male hand surgeons were more likely than female hand surgeons to use LinkedIn (41.19% versus 34.85%) (P = 0.044956). Southern (18.89%) and eastern region (14.36%) surgeons utilized personal websites more than western (6.52%) and midwestern (4.60%) surgeons (P = 0.0319107). CONCLUSION: Despite the widely known use of social media amongst plastic and aesthetic surgeons, this study shows the use of web-based marketing strategies to be quite rare in the academic hand surgery setting. Social media can have a profound impact on medical practices and thus we suggest that academic plastic and orthopaedic hand surgeons throughout the United States should consider having a larger social media presence to expand advertising, improve patient education, and enhance networking within their practices.

PA/LTC Goes Around the World in Online Communities

BackgroundThe US News and World Report reputation score correlates strongly with overall rank in adult and pediatric hospital rankings. Social media affects how information is disseminated to physicians and is used by hospitals as a marketing tool to recruit patients. It is unclear whether the reputation score for adult and children’s hospitals relates to social media presence.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to analyze the association between a hospital’s social media metrics and the US News 2017-2018 Best Hospital Rankings for adult and children’s hospitals.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the reputation score, total score, and social media metrics (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) of hospitals who received at least one subspecialty ranking in the 2017-2018 US News publicly available annual rankings. Regression analysis was employed to analyze the partial correlation coefficients between social media metrics and a hospital’s total points (ie, rank) and reputation score for both adult and children’s hospitals while controlling for the bed size and time on Twitter.ResultsWe observed significant correlations for children’s hospitals’ reputation score and total points with the number of Twitter followers (total points: r=.465, P<.001; reputation: r=.524, P<.001) and Facebook followers (total points: r=.392, P=.002; reputation: r=.518, P<.001). Significant correlations for the adult hospitals reputation score were found with the number of Twitter followers (r=.848, P<.001), number of tweets (r=.535, P<.001), Klout score (r=.242, P=.02), and Facebook followers (r=.743, P<.001). In addition, significant correlations for adult hospitals total points were found with Twitter followers (r=.548, P<.001), number of tweets (r=.358, P<.001), Klout score (r=.203, P=.05), Facebook followers (r=.500, P<.001), and Instagram followers (r=.692, P<.001).ConclusionsA statistically significant correlation exists between multiple social media metrics and both a hospital’s reputation score and total points (ie, overall rank). This association may indicate that a hospital’s reputation may be influenced by its social media presence or that the reputation or rank of a hospital drives social media followers.

Study Design:Cross-sectional observational.Background:The use of social media by providers can enhance patient education, complement offline information, facilitate patient support, stimulate brand building, and strengthen the organization’s market position. Risks of social media include, but are not limited to, a lack of quality, reliability, misrepresentation of credentials, influence of hidden and overt conflicts of interest, content that may jeopardize patient privacy, HIPAA regulations, and physicians’ credentials and licensure. Physicians’ use of social media may also expose him/her to lawsuits if providing specific medical advice on media platforms.Objective:To document the social media presence of a broad cohort of spine surgeons, and to discuss the benefits and risks of a social media presence.Methods:Cross-sectional observational of 325 Spine Surgeons from 76 institutions across the US. Description statistic and Pearson’s correlation were used to investigate the relationships between the variables.Results:Out of the 325 surgeons, 96% were male with an average age of 51.5 ± 10.7 years and 14.1 ± 9.6 years of experience. The frequency of social media use included 57.2% of surgeons had professional LinkedIn, 17.8% had professional Facebook, and less than 16% had other social media platforms. When combining all platforms together, 64.6% of all surgeons had at least one professional social media platform. 64.0% of these surgeons had no social media activity in the past 90 days, while 19.4% and 10.9% were active once and twice a month, respectively. Surgeon age (P = 0.004), years in practice (P < 0.001), and practice type (P < 0.001) were strongly correlated with social media activity.Conclusions:Given the scarcity of research on this topic and the novelty of the platforms, social media and online services continue to be utilized at a low level by spine surgeons. Issues regarding the risks of privacy issues with social media users continue to be a concern among medical professionals adopting this technology. This can largely be mitigated with the combination of physician education and informed consent from patients. The ability to connect with patients directly, and provide access to high-quality education and information will be of considerable benefit to our field well into the future.

Patients regularly tell me that they have checked my credentials online — one of several ways adults seek information on the Internet about health, specific diseases, treatments, hospital outcomes and insurance providers. This and the next issue of the Canadian Journal of Surgery include articles discussing online health information,1,2 providing insight on the quantity, quality and readability of information that plays a role in patients’ decision-making. The authors challenge surgeons to regard health websites as a potential way to form useful partnerships with patients. These data from Canadian1 and UK2 centres are complemented by recent data that reported that 80% of US adults who are online search for health information.3 In contrast with the assumption that only younger adults perform online searches, all age groups were well represented. Thus, patients with online access are increasingly likely to seek authoritative information on surgical care to discuss with their surgeons. Online social networking promises to push the discussion even further. Social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, have become mainstream 2-way communication tools. Social networking is growing rapidly among all age groups, with young adults in the lead. Social media websites are accessible and affordable, and information can be accessed in plain language. The power of social networks to effect change was recently observed when mass populations challenged political leaders to publicly sanction individuals who participated in the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver, BC. Within the health domain, many hospitals have social networking accounts and microblogging sites to allow the public to communicate with health providers. Almost all medical schools have a social media presence, and strong linkages with social networks are found with online ratings of medical doctors and professors. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has engaged young Canadians with health researchers through its Synapse — CIHR Youth Partnership. The Canadian Association of General Surgeons website hosts online professional networking with its WIKI Surgery. Surgeons cannot ignore the massive wave of increasing online information and social media presence. Proponents for more physician engagement with social media argue that this is an opportunity to improve communication with patients and transcend partnerships that improve health outcomes. At the very least, surgeons can check their own online presence to determine if there is accurate representation of their skill sets. There are some potential pitfalls of social networking, including loss of patient confidentiality, blurred boundaries between personal and professional net-working, unprofessional conduct, unreliable information and time constraints that limit effective dialogue. The American Medical Association recently approved ethical guidelines to encourage use of social media by doctors4 that provide several helpful recommendations, including standards of privacy and confidentiality, use of appropriate privacy settings, self-monitoring of online presence for accuracy, maintenance of boundaries between personal and professional use of social media, self-regulation of standards for online etiquette and awareness of the impact of social media on public trust. A recent publication by the Massachusetts Medical Society identified a thoughtful summary of best practices for physicians who use social media professionally.5 Online health information is available to the public in many forms. Surgeons need to be aware of the opportunities being accessed by their patients through this medium. Guidelines for professional use of social media should be broadly disseminated, and continuing medical education programs should educate surgeons and their trainees on the opportunities to harness social media for improved public dialogue. Without this, surgeons may be marginalized by ignorance of the “twitter” of information that occurs outside their operating rooms.

During the past decade, the technological changes in scientific publishing have been remarkable. The ability to move scientific manuscripts through the review and editing processes electronically has been a breakthrough in efficiency that once seemed unimaginable. The fact that entire journals—such as this one—exist entirely in electronic format is also a breakthrough. However, as with any new technology, challenges and questions emerge in the wake of the increases in efficiency that we enjoy. One of the key challenges organizations such as The Wildlife Society face is how to develop an understanding of how new technology is affecting the basic model of scientific publishing. Traditional models of scientific publication historically revolved around professional societies that organized peer-reviewed scientific journals focused on some area of scientific specialization. Many of these societies were organized in the late 19th or early 20th century and have developed collective reputations for excellence in their publications. Having subscription-based journals run by professional societies was the model for peer-reviewed scientific publishing for more than a century. This was the case until about a decade ago, when the game changed with the advent of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) in 2006 and “open-access” scientific publishing. The open-access content that was largely pioneered by PLoS has taken the scientific publishing world by storm. It is based on an “author pays” business model, without charging readers or libraries a subscription fee to access the published papers. As you might imagine, the idea of providing free access to peer-reviewed scientific papers became very popular very quickly. For example, in 2010, the journal PLoS ONE published nearly 7,000 biology and medicine articles, and it had an impact factor 3 times greater than The Journal of Wildlife Management. With only 5 years of publication, PLoS ONE became the largest life science journal in the world. The open-access concept clearly revolutionized scientific publishing, and it did so virtually overnight. Obviously, the explosion of open-access journals during the past decade presents a challenge to traditional subscription-based scientific publications. However, there are some potential problems in the apparent paradise of open-access publishing. The open-access publication model pioneered by PLoS is not without critics. For example, because open-access journals are driven by an author-pays economic model, they have a potential conflict of interest that can compromise peer-review standards; by accepting more articles, the journal generates more revenue. The acceptance rate of articles in PLoS ONE is about 70%, which is much higher than most traditional peer-reviewed journals published by scientific societies. Another criticism is that after publication in open-access journals such as PLoS ONE, articles are subjected to community-based peer review that involves online annotation and additional comments from readers. At first, such direct involvement between authors and readers might seem refreshing, but it also has the potential to short-circuit the more deliberative point–counter-point process used to challenge traditional scientific articles that appear in print or secure electronic format, such as the Wildlife Society Bulletin. While not necessarily a criticism, it is important to note journals like those in the PLoS series are not linked with a particular scientific society. Thus, professional benefits of publishing in an open-access journal such as PLoS ONE begin and end with publication. This brings us full circle to the title of this editorial. While the open-access scientific publishing model is with us to stay, we believe that there is still a strong and important niche for traditional scientific publications linked to professional societies. This niche not only involves subscription-based peer-reviewed journals that publish high-quality articles, it also involves a suite of member services that are useful—and we would argue even essential—as one moves along the career arc of their profession. The Wildlife Society, which has recently experienced healthy growth (membership is at an all-time high), has done so by providing such member services as The Wildlife Professional, frequent e-news bulletins to members, technical reviews, a book publication series, position statements on controversial issues, outstanding annual conferences in diverse geographic locations, and a network of sections and chapters for members to become involved with projects and initiatives at regional and local scales. Open-access journals, although they indeed publish massive amounts of material, provide none of these other important professional services. So, if you are reading this and you are not a member of The Wildlife Society, please join! Or, if you are a member of The Wildlife Society, but do not have a subscription to Wildlife Society Bulletin, please subscribe! Please also note that some new guidelines for Authors, Associate Editors, and Reviewers of manuscripts for Wildlife Society Bulletin appear at the end of this issue.

Social media (SM) use by orthopaedic surgeons is becoming increasingly common; nonetheless, it needs to be clarified how patients perceive the content posted by physicians. To characterize SM content posted by orthopaedic surgeons while investigating patient perceptions of this content and how it may influence their health care decisions. Cross-sectional study. Posts on SM outlets by orthopaedic surgeons were reviewed and categorized. A survey to assess patient perception of these categories was administered between December 2021 and February 2022 in the clinics of 3 orthopaedic surgeons. Survey results were analyzed for differences in patient SM use and perception of SM content types. There were 250 completed surveys. SM use was high among all age groups; however, the 18 to 24 years (87.1%) and 25 to 34 years (86.4%) age groups were more likely than older age groups to report daily use (P = .002). Overall, 17% of patients reported using SM to see information about their health care at least once per month, 21% reported reviewing the SM account of a physician at least once per month, 19% reported that they were likely or very likely to view the SM account of their physician, and 23% reported that SM content was likely or very likely to influence which physician they see. Patients held the most consistently positive view of posts that educated patients, discussed sports team coverage, and provided patient testimonials. Patients had consistently neutral views of posts educating colleagues, discussing presentations at national meetings, displaying aspects of surgeons' personal lives, and supporting marginalized groups. Several post categories elicited highly polarized responses-including those discussing research publications and showing surgical techniques or pictures/videos taken during surgery. Respondents had a consistently negative response to posts making political statements. SM is likely a useful tool to help physicians interact with patients. Physicians who wish to interact with patients should consider posting content viewed most positively-including posts educating patients, discussing sports team coverage, and providing patient testimonials. Content that is viewed less favorably should be posted sparingly or with a sensitive tag.

Peer Review: The Best of the Blemished?

PURPOSE: The effectiveness of utilizing social media platforms to promote clinical practices, educate the public, and attract patients has been well established. Accordingly, this study aimed to extensively evaluate public preferences regarding plastic surgery social media content and educational material in order to provide guidance for plastic surgeons seeking to enhance their social media presence. METHODS: Survey participants were recruited during February 2021 using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (mTurk) crowdsourcing service and REDCap’s survey manager. An anonymous 25-question survey was distributed to ascertain demographic information, levels of interest in plastic surgery, patterns of social media use, and plastic surgery social media content preferences. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-Square test and multivariate regression. RESULTS: Of the 401 total participants, the typical respondent was a woman, aged between 25 and 34 years, married, with a Bachelor’s degree, earning an annual income between $50,000 to $99,999, and on social media daily. Of the 273 (68.1%) respondents who considered having plastic surgery or cosmetic procedures in the last 5 years, most were interested in non-surgical procedures (39.9%) and face and neck surgery (37.5%). Almost half of respondents (48.4%) had viewed plastic surgery content on social media, of whom 44.3% reported doing with the intention of learning more about a specific procedure they are interested in having. Additionally, 42.8% of respondents who had viewed plastic surgery content on social media follow a plastic surgeon on at least one platform, with the most popular being Instagram (71.1%) and Facebook (55.4%). Respondents who had viewed plastic surgery content on social media were 5.6 times more likely to had underwent or considered plastic surgery than those who did not (95% CI: 3.3–9.6, P < 0.001). Women were 2.0 times more likely to had viewed plastic surgery content (95% CI: 1.3–2.9, P = 0.001) than men, and those between the ages of 18 and 34 years were 2.0 times more likely to follow a plastic surgeon on social media compared with those 35 and older. On a five-point Likert scale (one: dislike, five: very interested), the three plastic surgery social media content categories with highest interest were before and after results (mean Likert weight 4.00 ± 1.10), patient testimonials (3.73 ± 1.15), and recovery process or follow-up visits (3.67 ± 1.14). Three content categories had a negative interest on average: celebrity plastic surgery (2.89 ± 1.17), comedic videos (2.79 ± 1.19), and content about surgeons’ private lives (2.51 ± 1.08). Overall, photo posts (51.4%) were most preferred, followed by video posts (27.2%), links to external content (12.5%), and text-only posts (9.0%). When asked what aspect of a social media account plays the most influential role in selecting a plastic surgeon, the overwhelming majority selected before and after results (45.9%), followed by links to reviews (16.2%), number of posts and followers (14.2%), and links to professional practice websites (12.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The relevance and importance of social media for plastic surgeons today to be able to interact with patients are at unprecedented highs. Understanding patterns of the public’s plastic surgery social media content preferences will help plastic surgeons optimize their social media reach and influence on their target audience.

Social media presence becomes phenomenal at the beginning of the 21st century and currently, social media is the forefront agenda for many enterprises. The influence of social media is also dominant in social entrepreneurship with the ever-increasing influence of the social media. The emergence of social media has changed the way social entrepreneurs undertake their entrepreneurial activities by helping social enterprises to gain access to resources that were otherwise not available to them. Currently, social entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on social media applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. to reach diverse audiences, generate more opportunities and promote their entrepreneurial ventures. As a result, it is becoming essential for social entrepreneurs to understand the vital role of social media and how they affect their social enterprises. Despite the fact that social media are being adopted by a growing number of social entrepreneurs, their understandability of how implementing social media may impact their entrepreneurial ventures is still limited because of the diverse possibilities of implementing them into their social enterprises. As a result, still limited scholarly studies have been undertaken so far which explain how social media could benefit entrepreneurial firms. To our knowledge, research which examines the role of social media in social entrepreneurship is scarce if not unavailable. This research provides a detailed literary investigation on current literature on social media and social entrepreneurship. A conceptual framework which depicts the role of social media in social entrepreneurship is developed. Furthermore, an extensive research on the different technology adoption theories and frameworks was conducted in order to identify key factors of social media for social entrepreneurial adoption. A social media adoption model has been proposed that depicts the adoption steps and which also integrates the identified factors as the key for the adoption process. This research provides valuable insights on the role of social media in social entrepreneurship and the social media adoption process in social enterprises. The findings of this research can be used by social entrepreneurs to facilitate social media adoption process in their entrepreneurial ventures and also can be used by academics for further research. The analysis shows that intention to return home induces remittances in terms of amount per year and proportion to income. Having further considered the determinants to return home of workers, income and employment satisfaction seem not to significantly affect their decisions as hypothesized. On the other hand, they are preferably satisfied in legal issues particularly visa regulations and labor protection and they became important negative factors of intention to return. Furthermore, international agreement and some legal instruments such as Agreement between Thailand and Australia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income, Fair Work Act 2009 and Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541, are also used to deepen the understanding of the economic outcome.

In May 2020, the Association of American Medical Colleges recommended that medical schools and teaching hospitals interview potential students, residents, and faculty virtually this application cycle due to the COVID-19 pandemic to limit disease transmission and ensure safety.1 This will dramatically change the landscape of how applicants learn about prospective programs and determine fit. To address the impact of these changes and ensure a successful residency application season for students and programs, it will be important for institutions to develop recruitment strategies that leverage technology and social media to approximate the benefits of in-person interviews.When the Department of Anesthesia at Loma Linda University completed a pilot study offering interviews in-person or virtually, reasons for selecting in-person interviews included wanting to interact with current residents (45.1%), geographic proximity (29.6%), an interest in visiting the facility (11.3%), and wanting to evaluate the surrounding area (7.0%).2 Resident interaction and evaluation of the facility and surrounding area represent key elements valued by applicants.Applicants look to the in-person interview day to get a feel for the program in terms of the culture and their own fit within it. A study of orthopedic surgery applicants found that the most important factors when creating a rank list was perceived happiness of current residents and camaraderie.3 Interview days typically incorporate pre-interview dinners, giving applicants an opportunity to interact informally with their potential colleagues. During the existing in-person interview day, applicants have additional opportunities to see how trainees and faculty interact through grand rounds and didactics.Campus visits to potential programs would be missing from virtual interviews and are important parts of the decision-making process. A study of radiology resident recruitment found that a facilities tour was considered necessary or desirable for 83% of applicants.4 These visits allow applicants to see the hospital, including, but not limited to, the clinical facilities, workspaces, cafeterias, and parking. In-person interviews also allow applicants to visit cities they are less familiar with and see if they could feel comfortable living there. Having an understanding of the area surrounding the hospital, including restaurants, parks, safety, and accessibility to public transportation is important to developing a full picture of a future home.Knowing these important benefits of in-person interviews, programs will need to find innovative ways to help applicants garner similar information and experiences in a virtual space. They need to be creative and adapt quickly via innovative recruitment strategies that leverage social media, use technology to enhance websites and offer webinars, and send recruitment boxes.Social media is an important way programs can enhance their online presence and recruit applicants.5 Those programs that do not have a social media presence should consider starting one this cycle, and those that do should bolster it with more frequent and thoughtful postings. In a study of radiology programs, 38% reported social media use.6 Per a study by Schweitzer and colleagues, social media was used by 27% of residency applicants to gain information about programs.7 Although these studies were published in 2012, they are the most recent analyses of social media for residency recruitment. What is clear, however, is if programs start social media accounts now, there will likely be growth in usefulness. Through resident-facilitated social media spaces, programs may be able to replicate the authentic, informal exchanges that allow applicants to determine a program's culture and fit and supplement the missing education gleaned from campus visits.The 2 social media platforms with the highest yield in facilitating connections are Twitter and Instagram. The Pew Research Center found that 67% of 18- to 29-year-olds use Instagram, with 76% using the application daily.8 Given that this is the target demographic, Instagram is a way to find potential applicants and appeal to them with pictures and brief videos of experiences as a resident in the program. Twitter is also important, given the large #medtwitter presence already, and, as one residency program described, it was effective to promote clinical concepts and highlight academic activities, which can be used as recruitment tools during the application process.9 See the table for ideas on using these platforms in creative ways to target trainees during the application season.Outside of social media, applicants can interact with current trainees in an informal environment to help assess program fit prior to interview season through webinars or virtual pre-interview dinners where applicants are given a voucher to a food delivery service and then interact with residents. These "virtual" dinners could be a fun way to break the ice and decrease the distance.In addition to enhancing social media presence and webinars to create connection, program websites will be critical for recruitment this season. Many studies have showed that websites in various fields need improvements as they lacked program details.10–13 Per a study completed in emergency medicine, website accessibility and ease of navigation played a role in 78% of applicants' decisions about applying to a program.14 Websites can also host campus and city video tours to satisfy in-person interview benefits of these experiences. See the table for ideas of how to use program websites to recruit applicants and ensure they are optimized for recruitment.Though a slightly more time-intensive and financial investment, recruitment boxes might be another way to add a personal touch. These boxes, similar to guest welcome baskets at weddings, would be kits to promote a particular city. Boxes can contain unique snacks made in the area as well as handwritten notes from trainees and program administration. To increase mentorship, letters could be written by trainees with similar professional or personal interests as individual applicants and could also act as a substitute for informal events with residents. Recruitment boxes could bring a tangible part of the program to applicants without having to leave their homes in this era of COVID-19.Though virtual recruitment is safer this season in preventing the spread of disease, it does have additional challenges. There will be new technical adaptations required to implement webinars and costs involved in making recruitment boxes and producing videos. Programs might solicit donations from local companies for recruitment box contents. Some within program administration may feel less comfortable and facile using social media; programs could seek the assistance of social media savvy faculty and residents to help develop their strategy. This could include a team creating content that is posted at regular frequencies and ensures meaningful interaction with applicants. Programs should partner with institutional media and communication departments to ensure messaging is aligned with institutional social media policies.While the COVID-19 pandemic is necessitating a transition to virtual interviews, virtual recruitment may lead to new practices and opportunities that last beyond the pandemic. The interview season will be most successful by ensuring known benefits of in-person interviews are approximated through innovative interview and recruitment strategies. This is also the time to improve program websites, create virtual video tours, and increase the use of social media by programs. In the future, studies can be done to evaluate how this virtual application cycle affected applicants' decisions.

The San José State University Library first became involved in social media in 2011 with the formation of a social media team. The team quickly realized that maintaining an academic library's social media presence—creating original content, monitoring posts and feeds, and maximizing exposure to the library's target audience—can take a sizeable chunk of time. Additionally, it is important to understand student preferences regarding the kind of content they are interested in seeing from their university library on social media so that the time spent creating content has not been wasted. This chapter will discuss how the social media team dealt with these questions and others, such as how to adapt to the regularly changing world of social media and how to reap the benefits of hiring student assistants to help create an engaging, relevant social media presence.