Challenges and Opportunities in Social Media Research in Gastroenterology

In recent years, social media has transformed how we as gastroenterologists communicate with each other and has grown into an arena of knowledge and peer support for patients. Gastroenterologists commonly use social media for education networking, patient populations use social media for peer support and advocacy, but little is known about how gastroenterologists can use social media to conduct thoughtful and rigorous patient-centered research. Therefore, we aim to introduce the scope of social media research, highlight prominent examples in gastroenterology, and review innovative opportunities and unique challenges to using and studying social media for research.