Faculty Utilization of X (Formerly: Twitter): What, Why, and How Many

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Academic Medicine
• Digital Health

Background:

• Social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) are increasingly vital for professional networking and information dissemination in academia.
• Understanding the adoption and usage patterns of these platforms among faculty is crucial for optimizing academic communication strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the trends in X usage among faculty members within a single academic surgery department.
• To analyze the types of content shared and explore associations between faculty characteristics and platform engagement.

Main Methods:

• Faculty X accounts were analyzed for metrics including follower counts and post types from January to June 2022.
• Post themes were categorized as personal, promotional, educational, or academic events.
• Statistical tests (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis) were used to explore associations between faculty rank, division, gender, and posting behavior.

Main Results:

• Out of 133 faculty, 53 (39.85%) had active X accounts, analyzing 3476 posts.
• Professional content (63%) dominated, followed by educational (19%) and personal (13%) posts.
• Faculty rank significantly correlated with content type, with senior faculty posting more about academic events; no significant associations found for gender or division.

Conclusions:

• X adoption is limited within this academic surgery department, with less than half of faculty actively participating.
• Current usage predominantly focuses on professional promotion, with opportunities to enhance educational and academic event dissemination.
• Targeted strategies may be needed to increase faculty engagement with X for broader academic impact.