#FNAFriday: How cytopathologists learn, teach, and share knowledge on Twitter

Area of Science:

• Cytopathology
• Social Media in Medicine
• Digital Pathology

Background:

• Twitter is a growing platform for cytopathologists to share expertise.
• #FNAFriday hashtag established in 2015 to foster community, education, and case sharing.
• Tweets can include text, images, and videos, all trackable via hashtags.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the utilization and content of the #FNAFriday hashtag on Twitter.
• To assess the growth of cytopathologist engagement on Twitter.
• To identify trends in case sharing and diagnostic techniques within the #FNAFriday community.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective extraction of all #FNAFriday tweets from April 2015 to February 2019.
• Data collected included author, figures, stain types, ancillary techniques (immunocytochemistry, molecular), and subspecialty.
• Analysis of tweet content categories (live-tweeting, training, publications) and engagement metrics (comments, retweets, likes).

Main Results:

• 349 original #FNAFriday tweets were tracked over 47 months (avg. 7.43/month).
• Papanicolaou stain was most frequent; content included cellblock (14.04%), histologic correlation (10.03%), and immunocytochemistry (8.60%).
• Top countries, active users, and subspecialties were identified.

Conclusions:

• Cytopathologist presence and case sharing on Twitter have significantly increased.
• #FNAFriday, alongside other cytology hashtags, acts as a specific and valuable keyword for the field.
• The hashtag facilitates community building and educational exchange among cytopathologists.