This is a presentation about the Use and Applications of Social Media in Medical Research. A big thanks to the #hcsmanz community and all the Twitter and Social Media users that made this presentation possible by providing valuable material.

1. HARRIS LYGIDAKIS
@lygidakis
lygidakis@gmail.com

2. Professional vs. Personal Use
A common doubt; fear regarding the interaction with patients.
New guidelines on their implementation.
But even in countries without guidelines, use common sense!
All information should be ethically and scientifically acceptable.
Low or none commercial bias.
Keep the patient’s confidentiality always in mind.

3. Doctors on SoMe
http://www.facebook.com

4. Doctors on SoMe
http://www.pinterest.com

5. Rating Sites
http://www.avvo.com

6. Social Network & EHR
http://www.howareyou.com

7. Mayo’s Own Social Network
http://connect.mayoclinic.org

8. A. Networking
Researchers have the opportunity to connect with a
broader global audience.
Seek and contact experts from all over the world.

9. B. Crowdsourcing
Distributed problem-solving and production process that
involves outsourcing tasks to a network of people (the
crowd).
Let’s say you have a question on a research. If you have
invested in creating a good and trustworthy network on
SoMe, you can rely on it to find the solution to your problem.

10. C. Other Applications
Recruitment of sample.
Look for research & funding opportunities.
Be updated (articles, new ideas, trends).
The community and the network you have built can filter the
news for you each day!

11. C. Other Applications
Centrifugal, not centripetal!
I participate in the filtering of the news actively , I comment
and give feedback.
Distribution of results.
The quickest way to receive feedback from publishers,
academics and researchers.

12. Linkedin
http://www.linkedin.com

13. Linkedin Forums
http://www.linkedin.com

14. ResearchGate
http://www.researchgate.net

15. Academia.edu
http://www.academia.edu

16. Twitter
A micro-blogging service that enables users to send small
public messages (tweets).
Tweets are limited to 140 characters and they can include
photos, videos and links.
To start using Twitter, you need only 10 minutes!

17. How is it possible that such a short medium can
have an impact on research and academic circles?
What can be said in 140 characters that may
interest the academia and the researchers?

18. Thousands of academics and researchers of any
level and experience use Twitter each day!

19. Find your Audience
Follow users: in your personal feed you will see the tweets
from the users you follow.
This way you create a personalized feed that matches your
professional, research and clinical interests.
Users can be organized by interests into lists.
Follow lists: see what the users of a list are saying.

20. Good Practices
Content is the king!
Engagement!
Be precise, concise and persistent.
Choose one topic and follow that path.
Keep a good relation with your own network of people.

21. And how can I interact?
Remember, it’s centrifugal!
Retweet: if you find an interesting tweet, share it with the
users that follow you.
Add the acronym RT + the username at the beginning of the
tweet. If you modify the original tweet, just write MT
(modified tweet) instead.

22. And how can I interact?
Reply: add @ + the username to respond to a user.
Others may mention you in the same way.
Use direct messages if you prefer to talk with someone
privately.

23. Hashtags
Lisa Fields: “I think of a hashtag like a cowboy using a rope to
round up only the ones he wants to find.”
They help categorize the tweets. If you search for a
hashtag (for instance, #diabetes, #obesity, #primarycare),
the result is a list of all the tweets that include this hashtag,
even those from users you don’t follow.

24. Hashtags
It’s like following a thematic channel with tweets!
Remember: the community is filtering the news! If you
follow a hashtag, for instance #meded or #primarycare, you
will find the most important related updates everyday.
Don’t panic for the amount of information; you won’t miss
things! The most important information is usually tweeted
several times!

25. Hashtags on Twitter

26. Does that look complicated or cluttered to you?

27. Hashtags on Flipboard
http://www.flipboard.com

28. Healthcare Hashatags
http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/

29. Disease Hashtags
http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/

30. Hashtags: Interaction
Conferences, events: tweet with predefined hashtags to
comment and engage with the participants, presenters
and organizers.
Communities
Tweetchats
Journal clubs

31. Hashtags: Communities
#phdchat
#traumaresearch
#BCSM
#rheum
#eldercarechat
#hcsm
#hcsmanz
#hcsmeu
#ruralmh
#Mdchat
#CHC

32. PHTwitJC
http://phtwitjc.wordpress.com

33. Healthcare Tweet Chat Calendar
http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/tweet-chats/

34. Healthcare Tweet Chat Calendar
http://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/tweet-chats/

35. Tweetchat
http://www.tweetchat.com

36. demo

37. Twitter for a Research Project
Tweet about your every step. Give updates.
Use it for micro-blogging; link to your blog and your work.
See the history of your research: Storify
Be open. Ask for feedback and comments!
Using hashtags will give you more visibility.

38. Twitter for a Research Project
Crowdsourcing will get you help and advice.
Tweet about other research teams, retweet their own
content.
Analytics may help you evaluate the response and impact
of your current work and have a better sense of its
progress.

39. Impact Factor: A New Generation
Twimpact factor (TWIF): Number of mentionings in tweets
(tweetations) within first 7 days after article publication.
Twindex7: Rank percentile of this article when its twimpact
factor is compared to 19 previously published articles.
Eysenbach G: “Highly tweeted articles were 11 times more
likely to be highly cited.”

40. http://www.jmir.org

42. References
1. Crowdsourcing. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsource Accessed 2 March 2012.
2. Mollett A, Moran D, Dunleavy P. Using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact
activities. A guide for academics and researchers. 2011: LSE Public Policy Group.
www2.lse.ac.uk/government/research/resgroups/LSEPublicPolicy/
3. Eysenbach G. Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on Twitter and
correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. J Med Internet Res. 2011 Dec
19;13(4):e123.
4. #hcsmanz transcript of 26 February 2012: Using Social Media in research. http://t.co/Eeb8aull
Accessed 26 February 2012.
5. Fields L. (PracticalWisdom) “T1: I think of a hashtag like a cowbody using a rope to round up only
the ones he wants to find. Used that in my last class. #hcsmanz”. 26 February 2012. Tweet.
6. Luks HJ. Healthcare and Social Media: Centrifugal versus centripetal drivers.
http://www.howardluksmd.com/orthopedic-social-media/healthcare-and-social-media-goals/
Accessed 8 March 2012.
7. Carrigan M. Some thoughts on getting academic types to use Twitter.
http://markcarrigan.net/2012/02/01/some-thoughts-on-getting-academic-types-to-use-twitter/
Accessed 20 February 2012.
8. Meskó B. For what do I use Twitter with 10,000 followers? http://scienceroll.com/2012/02/27/for-
what-do-i-use-twitter-with-10000-follower/ Accessed 28 February 2012.