Radiology on Reddit: A Content Analysis and Opportunity for Radiologist Engagement and Education

Social media use in radiology has been well documented, primarily pertaining to Twitter and Facebook. We evaluated radiology-related posts and users on Reddit, a popular platform with users who post and discuss content in a message-board format.

Two subreddits were reviewed: r/radiology (top 100 posts) and r/medicine (search queries: radiology, x-ray, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, PET scan, and mammogram). Post aims and user types were categorized. Kruskal-Wallis H and post-hoc pairwise Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to assess user and post types associated with greater post comments and points.

A total of 323 posts submitted by 258 unique users over a 9 year period with a median of 21 comments (range 0-568) and 119 points (0-1877) were reviewed. These were most commonly posted by physicians (41%), radiologic technologists (18%), and medical students (12%). Radiologists represented 30% of physicians and 12% of all users. Posts by physicians had significantly higher median comments and points than half of other user categories (P = <0.01-0.04). Most posts related to imaging case presentations (25%), comedic content (18%), and imaging appropriateness (10%). The most common radiology subspecialties featured were musculoskeletal (26%), neuroradiology (22%), abdominal (21%), and cardiothoracic (20%). Although only 1% of posts featured wellness and burnout, they had significantly higher median comments and points than 14 of 15 and 15 of 15 other post categories, respectively (P = <0.01-0.03).

Reddit hosts a diverse community providing an interface for education, consultation, and humor. Radiologists represent a small, although impactful, portion of this community and should embrace Reddit as an avenue for engagement.