Social media use among cardiothoracic surgeons: The online landscape and comparisons between subgroups

Social media use among cardiothoracic surgeons has yet to be analyzed. This study aimed to explore how online media utilization by cardiothoracic surgeons differs by subspecialty, sex, geographic region, practice type, level of experience, and training pathway.

A list of 223 cardiothoracic surgeons was generated by querying the 1066 members of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and randomly selecting 223 actively practicing surgeons. For each surgeon, demographic information and online platform information was searched for in a standardized manner. Platforms assessed included practice websites, personal websites, CTSNet, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Wikipedia, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, practice YouTube, personal YouTube, and TikTok. A cumulative online presence score was then calculated for each surgeon.

CTSNet (98.2%), LinkedIn (78.9%), and ResearchGate (57.4%) were the most frequently used online platforms. X/Twitter (32.7%) was the most popular social media platform. There were no differences in online platform utilization by subspecialty, practice type, or training pathway; however, differences did exist by sex, geographic region, and level of experience. Females more frequently used Facebook and Instagram. Surgeons in the Southwest were more likely to use Facebook and Instagram, as well as to have a personal website. Early-career surgeons had a higher median cumulative online presence score and were more active on X/Twitter, while mid-career surgeons were more likely to use LinkedIn.

Virtually all (99.6%) of cardiothoracic surgeons use professional networking platforms; however, social media use remains relatively low overall at 42.6%. These findings provide foundational data on how cardiothoracic surgeons engage with the online landscape to supplement their practice.