An Analysis of a Family Medicine Residency Program's Social Media Engagement During the 2021-2022 Match Cycle

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2021 and 2022 residency recruitment cycles. Many programs rapidly shifted their recruitment efforts to include a greater presence on social media (SoMe), assuming that applicants would use these avenues as supplemental sources of information. As this represents a deviation from traditional recruitment efforts, our research team sought to analyze social media trends during the 2021-2022 family medicine virtual Match.

We obtained social media analytics from our program's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts to trend user engagement as well as sources of traffic to our program's website.

Our study shows the ratio of users reached per post correlated with Instagram and Twitter more than Facebook. The most users reached per post were in June, October, and February, corresponding to when Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) application opened, when interview invitations were mostly extended, and rank order list submission. GME website traffic sources revealed that Google was the greatest driver to our website, more than the three SoMe platforms combined.

Our findings suggest Instagram and Twitter engage more users per post compared to Facebook, and user engagement appeared more aligned with the Match cycle timeline than the number of posts generated. It is important to continue to explore effective ways for applicants and programs to engage with one another in the ongoing uncertainty of virtual interviewing.