- Email: [email protected]
The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery
Accepted Manuscript The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery Naif M. Alotaibi, M.D, Jetan H. Badhiwala, M.D, Farshad Nassiri, M.D, Daipayan Guha, M.D, George M. Ibrahim, M.D., Ph.D, Mohammed F. Shamji, M.D., Ph.D, Andres M. Lozano, MD, Ph.D PII:
S1878-8750(15)01528-4
DOI:
10.1016/j.wneu.2015.11.011
Reference:
WNEU 3405
To appear in:
World Neurosurgery
Received Date: 22 September 2015 Accepted Date: 1 November 2015
Please cite this article as: Alotaibi NM, Badhiwala JH, Nassiri F, Guha D, Ibrahim GM, Shamji MF, Lozano AM, The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery, World Neurosurgery (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2015.11.011. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Alotaibi
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Title: The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery Authors: Naif M. Alotaibi, M.D.1,2, Jetan H. Badhiwala, M.D.1, Farshad Nassiri, M.D.1, Daipayan Guha, M.D.1, George M. Ibrahim, M.D., Ph.D.1, Mohammed F.
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Shamji, M.D., Ph.D.1,3, Andres M Lozano, MD, Ph.D.1,3
Affiliations: 1 Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2 Department of Neurosurgery, National
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Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and 3
Corresponding Author:
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Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Andres M Lozano, MD, Ph.D
Professor and Dan Family Chairman of Neurosurgery University of Toronto RR Tasker Chair in Functional Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital Senior Scientist, Toronto Western Research Institute
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399 Bathurst St., WW 4-447 Toronto, ON M5T 2S8 Tel: (416) 603-5800 ext. 3712 Fax: (416) 603-5298
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Email: [email protected]
Submission: World Neurosurgery Journal
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Manuscript word count: 2263 Title character count: 47 Figures: 1 Tables: 4
Supplementary tables: 5 Keywords: Social Media; Neurosurgery; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube Short working title: Social media in neurosurgery.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT INTRODUCTION Social media broadly refers to any online forum allowing group communication through text, audio, images, and/or video. Information on social media is easily accessible, modifiable, and publishable by an online community.
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Current forms of social media include text blogging (e.g., WordPress, Twitter), photo and video content communities (e.g., Flickr, Instagram, YouTube), and networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, ResearchGate).
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The use of social networks in particular is growing rapidly. Pew Research
Center reported that as of January 2014, 74% of online adults use social media1, with
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Facebook (1.44 billion monthly active users)2 and Twitter (300 million monthly active users)3 being the most popular sites.
In health care, social networks may provide an online society linking not only physicians, trainees and researchers, for instance via ResearchGate, but also
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physicians and hospitals to patients4. Academic and private practice departments are also increasingly capitalizing on these networks to connect with patients to discuss their treatments options, with the broader public to augment their stature and publicize
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their accomplishments as well as with philanthropists and funding institutions to earn
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greater visibility5. Major medical journals are currently using Facebook and Twitter to boost awareness of their publications, and the number of their users is rapidly growing. The number of followers for The Lancet and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Twitter accounts has tripled between May 2012 and October 2014 (The Lancet, 36,730 to 142,000; JAMA, 18,422 to 95,600)6. Given the importance of social media in medicine, it is important to identify its use within the neurosurgical community. The use of social networking sites in ophthalmology,6 dermatology,7 urology8 and radiology9, 10 has recently been studied.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Neurosurgery, as an inherently academic specialty, may require far more institutional effort to develop and maintain social media representation. The goal of this study was to evaluate and measure the presence of neurosurgical departments, journals, nonprofit organizations on the 3 major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and
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YouTube). The current study hopes to provide an account of the current usage of
social media in neurosurgery and inform future uses by individuals, institutions and
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societies.
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METHODS
In order to gauge the online footprint of private and academic practices, neurosurgical journals and professional societies, a comprehensive search strategy was employed to determine the extent of social media usage in neurosurgery. A systematic online search strategy was employed in June 2015, in order to identify all
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accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube that were relevant to neurosurgery. A two-pronged approach was utilized whereby first, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were searched for the presence of neurosurgical sites and second, neurosurgical
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websites were searched for external links to these social networking sites. Two
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authors independently conducted all searches and extracted data. Disagreements between reviewers were resolved by consensus, and if needed, by consultation with a third reviewer.
For every social media account searched, we collected website-specific data
on site attendance/popularity: the number of “likes” (Facebook), “followers” (Twitter), or “subscribers” and “total views” (YouTube). For institutional accounts, we collected data on the year that the organization joined the network, the type of practice (academic or private), and country of practice (USA or Canada). Accounts
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT that had less than 100 “likes” or “followers” or “subscriber”, accounts of institutions providing only non-surgical treatments (e.g., chiropractic, acupuncture, epidural injections, etc.), and unofficial accounts were all excluded.
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Neurosurgical Institutions
The official websites for academic neurosurgical units registered with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the Royal
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College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, were searched for external links to
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dedicated Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube pages. If there was no external link available, or for private practice centers, online searches combining the full name and/or abbreviation of the institution (e.g. University of Toronto, U of T) and a general search with keywords pertinent to neurosurgery (neurosurgery, neurological surgery, neurosurgical, brain, spine) were conducted on each of Facebook, Twitter,
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and YouTube. We only included accounts that were solely dedicated to neurosurgery or spine surgery departments or centers in North America.
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Neurosurgical Journals
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By searching Thomson Reuters’ Master Journal List using the same neurosurgery-related keywords, we identified 20 neurosurgical and spine journals (Table 1). The official website of each journal was visited in order to find external links to dedicated Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts. If there was no external link available, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were each searched individually using the same strategy as for institutional accounts.
Professional, scientific and educational associations
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT A list of professional, scientific, and educational associations and societies was created by searching the affiliated organizations listed on the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) website
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(http://www.aans.org/Related%20Organizations.aspx). Associations or societies that were affiliated with journals included in our study were also added to this list (Table
2). The official website of each association and/or society was visited in order to find external links to dedicated Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube accounts. If there was no
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external link available, each of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was searched
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individually, as before.
Foundations and support groups
In order to identify foundations and support groups related to neurosurgery, we used two publicly-accessible websites (https://www.quintly.com/ and
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https://followerwonk.com ) that retrieve and rank Facebook and Twitter pages according to their popularity. We manually examined the top accounts in the “Non-
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profit organizations” category to identify only the top five followed accounts related to the neurosurgical community. Where appropriate, the neurosurgical focus of the
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account, and numbers of “likes” and or “followers” were recorded for each account.
RESULTS
The most popular Facebook and Twitter accounts of private and academic
departments, peer-reviewed journals, professional associations and societies, and nonprofit foundations and support groups in the field of neurosurgery, are presented in Table 3. Table 4 summarizes the most popular neurosurgical YouTube accounts. Full lists of our search results can be seen in the supplementary tables.
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Neurosurgical institutions Our search yielded 158 social media accounts (86 Facebook, 59 Twitter, and 13 YouTube) officially affiliated with neurosurgical institutions. Of the 158 accounts,
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117 represented private practice centers (74%). For both Facebook and Twitter,
accounts of academic and private practices had a similar median number of “likes”
and “followers”, although the most popular private practice accounts had far more hits
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(Fig 1A and 1B). Accounts of private neurosurgical departments attracted more
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subscribers than academic centers on YouTube (Fig 1C).The total number of likes on Facebook was 166,310 and total number of followers on Twitter was 67,968.
Neurosurgical peer-reviewed journals
Of the 20 spine/neurosurgery peer-reviewed journals we investigated, only
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seven had active Facebook and Twitter accounts: the four journals for Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) Publishing Group in one combined account, NEUROSURGERY, Spine, and the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry (JNNP). Three of
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these, NEUROSURGERY, JNS, and JNNP, also had YouTube accounts. The total
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number of likes on Facebook was 28,445 and total number of followers on Twitter was 15,871.
Professional, scientific, and educational associations We identified 10 Facebook and 6 Twitter accounts, along with 4 YouTube channels that were linked to our list of 36 associations. The highest number of “likes” on Facebook and subscribers on YouTube belonged to the American Association of
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Neurological Surgeons (AANS), while the most followed Twitter account was for the North American Spine Society (NASS).
Foundations and support groups
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Among non-profit foundations, the most followed accounts on Facebook and Twitter belonged to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson
Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Epilepsy Foundation of America,
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the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, The Children’s Trust, the Raising Hope
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Foundation, and the Spina Bifida Association of America. The total number of likes/followers on Facebook and Twitter was 1,006,859 and 285,700, respectively.
DISCUSSION
We have identified the most popular social sites for neurosurgical
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departments, journals, professional associations and non-profit support organizations. These sites provide an important portal for neurosurgical groups to interact with colleagues, students and patients. To our knowledge, this is the first snapshot in the
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literature of the current use of social media in North American neurosurgery.
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Private practice groups showed a clear dominance in social media presence compared to academic institutions. This may be related in part to the number of surgeons employed at each academic institution, which often is less than at each private center 11, 12, the types of typical surgical interventions, and differing financial compensation models. Private centers, which rely on a steady stream of patients for income, and which perform day surgery and newer minimally-invasive spinal techniques regarding which patients may have more questions, may therefore have both financial and public-relations incentives to maintain greater social media
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT presences. This has been corroborated in a study of social media sites for radiology practice groups9. Canadian departments were significantly under-represented in our search. There were only two academic divisions (University of Toronto, University of
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Western Ontario) with any social media presence. Lack of Canadian representation in our list can be explained partly by the predominant mode of health insurance, which in Canada is entirely publicly funded, precluding any significant developments in
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neurosurgical private practice.
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Many journals adopted social media to broaden their audience and to engage with their readers. Recent social media-based scientometrics have shown that a peak in social networking activity can correlate with the subsequent citation rate of newly published scientific articles13, 14 and can widen the readership of scientific articles15. Only 7 journals out of 20 neurosurgical journals (35%) had external links for social
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media sites. This rate is similar or slightly higher to journals in other specialties (24% in urological journals, 12-13% in dermatological journals, 18-21% in ophthalmological journals)6-8. The numbers of followers or likes for neurosurgical
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journals, when compared to higher impact journals, are certainly small. For example,
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NEUROSURGERY was liked by 15,326 users on Facebook, in contrast to more than 1 million likes for The New England Journal of Medicine page. Such figures are reflective of the smaller scientific audience for neurosurgery, and subsequent differences in marketing strategies. Compared to journals, there is noticeably more interest in social media by neurosurgical societies and professional organizations. This is seen recently in neurosurgical conferences that have developed event specific Twitter hashtags (#CNS2014, #AANS2015, #WFNS) to promote live ‘tweeting’ and interaction with
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT attendees. Wilkinson and his colleagues16 prospectively followed hashtags of eight international urology conferences and analyzed their social media metrics for 3 consecutive years. Their study showed significant increase in numbers of users (a 10fold increase) and number of tweets (from 347 to almost 6000 tweet) over 3 years.
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Social media sites for non-profit patient-centered organizations and
foundations had the highest number of total followers and likes in our study. The total likes/followers for our list of top 5 foundations were over 1 million. This number is
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higher than the overall numbers for all academic and private practice departments
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(145 accounts on Facebook and Twitter) that had only 234,000 followers and likes. The preferential use of social media by patients may be explained by the interactive nature of these networks and the tendency to search medical information online17. A recent study from University of Alabama showed that almost half of caregivers of children with hydrocephalus used social media for hydrocephalus-related purposes18.
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YouTube has emerged as one of the largest freely accessible sources of video content. The AANS YouTube channel, which is also the official channel for the Journal of Neurosurgery, had the largest numbers of subscribers among all
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neurosurgical channels in our search. The channel posted historical videos, high-yield
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educational lectures for residents, and interviews with pioneers in neurosurgery. Use of YouTube for publishing peer-reviewed scientific videos represent an important tool to support independent learning and a great advance in surgical education, compared to conventional drawings and photographs. All of the reviewed social networks sites in our study have certain abilities, advantages and disadvantages that must be considered before utilization. Dissemination, outreach, free access, education, awareness, fundraising, and directing patients with accurate information are all examples of potential benefits. Popularity
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT versus quality, pseudoscience, unsubstantiated claims, privacy breach, lack of peer review, and economic misadventures are possible dangers of misusing these networks by patients or clinicians. This work has several potential limitations. First, although our search strategy
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was systematic and was employed independently by two reviewers, it is not
guaranteed to be exhaustive. The strategy may be limited by our choice of search terms, and the use of non-verified third-party social media analytic applications.
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Second, we only analyzed neurosurgical presence in 3 sites, as they represent the most
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commonly used social media platforms. Finally, it must be mentioned that our study represents only a snapshot of the current state of neurosurgical social media; particularly for online presences, lists are dynamic and may change on a rapid time
CONCLUSION
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scale.
The role of social media in neurosurgery can be influential, and this study shows different uses of social media platforms and numbers of users of the online
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neurosurgical community that can be reached. The high reach observed on each of
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these platforms may represent an opportunity to communicate clinical and scholarly interests and encourage discussion surrounding best practices. Well-defined management of privacy concerns and pre-publication data confidentiality will be important to establish prior to promoting further engagement of participants. Queries and discussions in terms of measures of users’ engagement, content "reachability", and subsequent effects on academic impact to neurosurgical departments and journals are still unclear. Further prospective studies are needed to understand the detailed social media metrics in relation to neurosurgery.
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Hawkins CM, Duszak R, Rawson JV. Social media in radiology: early trends in Twitter microblogging at radiology's largest international meeting. J Am Coll Radiol. Apr 2014;11(4):387-390.
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Gottfried ON, Rovit RL, Popp AJ, Kraus KL, Simon AS, Couldwell WT. Neurosurgical
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Thelwall M, Haustein S, Lariviere V, Sugimoto CR. Do altmetrics work? Twitter and
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ten other social web services. PLoS One. 2013;8(5):e64841.
Eysenbach G. Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on Twitter and correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. J Med Internet Res. 2011;13(4):e123.
Allen HG, Stanton TR, Di Pietro F, Moseley GL. Social media release increases
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dissemination of original articles in the clinical pain sciences. PLoS One. 2013;8(7):e68914.
Wilkinson SE, Basto MY, Perovic G, Lawrentschuk N, Murphy DG. The social media
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revolution is changing the conference experience: analytics and trends from eight
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international meetings. BJU Int. May 2015;115(5):839-846.
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Hesse BW, Nelson DE, Kreps GL, et al. Trust and sources of health information: the impact of the Internet and its implications for health care providers: findings from the first Health Information National Trends Survey. Arch Intern Med. Dec 12-26 2005;165(22):2618-2624.
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Naftel RP, Safiano NA, Falola MI, Shannon CN, Wellons JC, 3rd, Johnston JM, Jr. Technology preferences among caregivers of children with hydrocephalus. J Neurosurg Pediatr. Jan 2013;11(1):26-36. Page 12
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Figure 1. Box and whisker plots of number of likes, followers, and subscribers stratified by academic or private institution for Facebook (A), Twitter (B), and
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YouTube (C), respectively.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT TABLE 1: List of screened neurosurgical and spine journals
British Journal of Neurosurgery Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
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Journal of Neurological Surgery Part A-Central European Neurosurgery Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry*
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Journal of Neurosurgery* Journal of Neurosurgery-Pediatrics* Journal of Neurosurgery-Spine*
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Neurosurgery* Neurosurgery Clinics of North America Pediatric Neurosurgery Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
World Neurosurgery
Neurosurgical Focus* Neurosurgical Review European Spine Journal Spine* Spine Journal
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Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences
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Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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Turkish Neurosurgery
* dedicated social media network account (Facebook or Twitter)
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT TABLE 2: List of screened professional, scientific and educational associations
Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery *
Academy of Medical Administrators
German Academy of Neurological Surgery
American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
Southeast Europe Neurosurgical Society
American Board of Neurological Surgery
World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
Association of Neurosurgical Physician Assistants*
American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery*
Congress of Neurological Surgeons*
European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery Executives’ Resource Value and Education Society
Turkish Neurosurgical Society
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American Academy of Neurological Surgery American*
Korean Neurosurgical Society
(NERVES)
Italian Society of Neurosurgery
Neurosurgical Society of America
EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe*
Society of Neurological Surgeons
Cervical Spine Research Society
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Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC)
SocioEconomic Section/CSNS (Council for State Neurological Societies)*
Finnish Spine Research Society
World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies
International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine *
North American Skull Base Society European Skull Base Society Japanese Skull Base Society
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German Society of Neurosurgery
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Society of British Neurological Surgeons
Korean Skull Base Society
* dedicated social media network account (Facebook or Twitter)
Japan Spine Research Society Korean Society of Spine Surgery Scoliosis Research Society* Spine Society of Australia North American Spine Society*
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FACEBOOK ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS Institution U of T Neurosurgery University of Michigan Mayfield Clinic UTHSCSA Neurosurgery USC Department of Neurosurgery
Year 2013 2013 2009 2009 2012
Country Canada USA USA USA USA
Facebook likes 3,518 2,659 1,453 1,296 1,226
TWITTER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS Institution USC Neurosurgery UTHSCSA Neurosurgery Mayfield Clinic UCSD Neurosurgery U of T Neurosurgery
PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS Institution Laser Spine Institute Bonati Spine Institute Neurological Surgery, P.C. Spine Physicians Institute Nebraska Spine Hospital
Year 2009 2010 2010 2011 2012
Country USA USA USA USA USA
Facebook likes 25000 21000 16000 6454 6000
Year 2009
Country USA
Facebook likes 15326
2010
UK
9091
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2012
USA
2795
Spine
2011
USA
1233
Country
Facebook likes
USA
9019
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/SOCIETIES Association/Society Year The American Association of Neurological 2012 Surgeons
2011
USA
Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
2011 2011
Brazil USA
4577 3414
North American Spine Society (NASS)
2010
USA
2661
Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
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FOUNDATIONS AND SUPPORT GROUPS Foundation The Michael J. Fox Foundation National Parkinson Foundation Heart and Stroke Foundation Epilepsy Foundation of America
4762
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Scoliosis Research Society
Focus Parkinson Parkinson Stroke Epilepsy Spinal Cord Injury
Facebook likes 449,894 208,965 206,000 98,000
44,000
Twitter followers 1705 1655 1385 1160 1144
PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS Institution San Diego Spine Disc Capital Region Special Surgery Laser Spine Institute Neurospine Institute North American Spine
Year 2009 2014 2009 2010 2009
Country USA USA USA USA USA
Twitter followers 15200 7650 4410 3990 2999
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS Journal NEUROSURGERY Journal
Year 2009
Country USA
Twitter followers 7350
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2009
USA
3825
2010
UK
3288
2011
USA
1408
Country
Twitter followers
2010
USA
3690
2011
USA
3680
2011 2012
USA Euro
2788 673
2014
USA
90
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Country USA USA USA USA Canada
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PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS Journal NEUROSURGERY Journal Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
Year 2012 2009 2009 2010 2013
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry Spine
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/SOCIETIES Association/Society Year
North American Spine Society (NASS) The American Association of Neurological Surgeons Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine FOUNDATIONS AND SUPPORT GROUPS Foundation The Children's Trust Raisin Hope Foundation The Michael J. Fox Foundation Spina Bifida Association of America
Heart and Stroke Foundation
Focus TBI TBI Parkinson Spina Bifida
Twitter followers 101,000 74,600 47,000 31,700
Stroke
31,400
TABLE 3: Top five most popular accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions, peer-reviewed journals, professional associations and societies, and foundations/support groups on Facebook and Twitter (U of T; University of Toronto, UTHSCSA; University of Texas Health Science Center, USC; University of Southern California, UCSD; University of California in San Diego)
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Year
Subscribers
Total Views
Type
American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)
2011
MicroNeuroSurgeryOrg
2010
6,988
877,278
Society
5,388
3,254,061
Private
The Neurosurgical Atlas (AANS Operative Grand Rounds) NEUROSURGERY Journal
2007 2009
2,972 2,804
334,404 666,466
Society Journal
Laser Spine Institute
2008
827
494,231
Private
Coeur d’Alene (CDA) Spine. NorthAmericanSpine
2008 2009
641 545
724,494 891,241
Private Private
Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF)
2014
533
16,870
Society
Univ of Pittsburgh Neurosurgery Portland Neurosurgery
2010 2012
351 314
41,621 106,150
Academic Private
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Name
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TABLE 4: Top ten most popular Youtube accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions, peerreviewed journals, professional associations and societies.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Highlights: The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery •
This report provide a description of the current usage of social media in neurosurgery. Most popular social media accounts in neurosurgery are presented.
•
Of the 158 accounts found, 117 represented private practice centers (74%).
•
Non-profit patient-centered organizations/foundations had the highest number of total followers and likes in our search.
•
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•
Advantages and pitfalls of social media, and the impact on citatons are
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reviewd and discussed.
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Abbreviations and Acronyms: JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association; ACGME: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; AANS: American Association of
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Neurological Surgeons; WFNS: World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies; CNS:
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Congress of Neurological Surgeons
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Year
Country
Likes
Type
Laser Spine Institute
2009
USA
25000
Private
Bonati Spine Institute
2010
USA
21000
Private
Neurological Surgery, P.C.
2010
USA
16000
Private
Spine Physicians Institute
2011
USA
Nebraska Spine Hospital
2012
USA
Atlantic Spine Center
2012
USA
North American Spine
2009
Georgia Neurological Surgery & Comprehensive Spine
2012
El Paso Spine Center
2012
North Texas Brain & Spine Institute
Southern Brain & Spine
https://www.facebook.com/laserspineinstitute
https://www.facebook.com/BonatiSpineInstitute
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https://www.facebook.com/neurosurgerypc/info?tab=overview
Private
https://www.facebook.com/spinephysiciansinstitute
6000
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NESpineHospital
4809
Private
https://www.facebook.com/AtlanticSpineCenter
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6454
4686
Private
https://www.facebook.com/northamericanspine/timeline
USA
4413
Private
https://www.facebook.com/georgianeuro/timeline
USA
4167
Private
https://www.facebook.com/ElPasoSpineCenter/timeline
2010
USA
3685
Private
https://www.facebook.com/TexasBrainSpine
2013
Canada
3518
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/UOfTNeurosurgery
2012
USA
3129
Private
https://www.facebook.com/sbsdocs
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USA
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U of T Neurosurgery
Link
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Name
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Supplementary Table 1. Most popular accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions on Facebook.
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USA
3096
Private
Houston Spine Doc, Navin Subramanian, M.D.
2012
USA
3080
Private
BioSpine Institute
2014
USA
2865
Private
Peachtree Neurosurgery
2012
USA
2852
Private
University of Michigan
2013
USA
2659
Academic
Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C.
2011
USA
Microsurgical Spine Center
2013
USA
Oklahoma Spine & Brain Institute
2014
USA
Regional Brain & Spine
2013
Precision Spine Care
2012
Resurgens Spine Center
2010
Jagannathan Neurosurgery
National Capital Neurosurgery
https://www.facebook.com/HoustonSpineDoc
https://www.facebook.com/pages/BioSpineInstitute/696707510367097 https://www.facebook.com/PeachtreeNeurosurgery
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/umichneuro
Private
https://www.facebook.com/LongIslandSpineSpecialists/timeline
2128
Private
https://www.facebook.com/MyBackMyLife
1975
Private
https://www.facebook.com/okspineandbrain
TE D
2260
1950
Private
https://www.facebook.com/RegionalBrainandSpine
USA
1784
Private
https://www.facebook.com/PrecisionSpineCare/timeline
USA
1744
Private
https://www.facebook.com/resurgensspine
2013
USA
1553
Private
https://www.facebook.com/JagannathanNeurosurgery?fref=ts
2010
USA
1499
Private
https://www.facebook.com/laserspinesurgery/timeline
2013
USA
1490
Private
https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonBrainSpineInstitute/timeline
EP
USA
AC C
Deuk Spine Institute
https://www.facebook.com/Basicspine
RI PT
2012
SC
BASIC Spine
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
1453
Academic
Advanced Neurosurgery Associates
2013
USA
1341
Private
UTHSCSA Neurosurgery
2009
USA
1296
Academic
USC Department of Neurosurgery
2012
USA
1226
Academic
UB Neurosurgery
2010
USA
1146
Academic
Midwest Neurosurgeons
2012
USA
Michigan Brain & Spine Surgery Center
2011
USA
American Spine
2011
USA
Indiana Spine Group
2012
Duke Neurosurgery
2014
Weill Cornell Pediatric Brain and Spine Center
2011
Marina Spine Center
https://www.facebook.com/MayfieldClinic
RI PT
2009
https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedNeurosurgeryAssociates
https://www.facebook.com/UTHSCSANeurosurgery https://www.facebook.com/USCNeurologicalSurgery
M AN U
SC
Mayfield Clinic
https://www.facebook.com/ubneurosurgery?fref=photo
Private
https://www.facebook.com/MidwestNeurosurgeons/timeline
1068
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michigan-Brain-Spine-SurgeryCenter-Lucia-Zamorano-MD-PLC/178667325511829
975
Private
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanSpine/timeline
TE D
1086
961
Private
https://www.facebook.com/indianaspinegroup/timeline
USA
888
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/dukeneurosurgery
USA
871
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/WeillCornellPediatricBrainandSpine/tim eline
2013
USA
839
Private
https://www.facebook.com/MDRHSpineCenter/timeline
University of Minnesota Department of Neurosurgery
2013
USA
810
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/UMNNeurosurgery
Scoliosis and Spine Associates
2011
USA
798
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scoliosis-and-Spine-AssociatesBaron-Lonner-MD/196317340389630?sk=timeline
AC C
EP
USA
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
778
Academic
Florence Neurosurgery & Spine Center
2014
USA
775
Private
OHSU Neurological Surgery
2010
USA
774
Academic
Center for Advanced Neurological Surgery
2010
USA
738
Private
Neurosurgery Residency at Barrow Neurological Instit ute
2011
USA
707
Academic
Neurological Surgery Associates
2012
USA
UCLA Neurosurgery
2011
USA
North Valley Neurosurgery
2011
USA
Princeton Neurological Surgery
2013
Spine Associates Richard Francis, MD
2009
Spine Team Texas
2012
UC San Diego Neurosurgery
https://www.facebook.com/OHSUNeurologicalSurgery http://www.facebook.com/188691867810
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/bnineurosurgery
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neurological-SurgeryAssociates/388737894515417?sk=timeline
692
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/pages/UCLANeurosurgery/179782942050505
664
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NVNEUROKPAGE/timeline
TE D
702
661
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Princeton-NeurologicalSurgery/288839567918822
USA
653
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spine-Associates-RichardFrancis-MD/149107073044?sk=timeline
USA
634
Private
https://www.facebook.com/spineteamtexas?ref=ts
2011
USA
561
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/ucsdneuro
2014
USA
553
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NYSpineAndScoliosis/timeline
2012
USA
540
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/IINN-Insight-Institute-ofNeurosurgery-Neuroscience/111040392273864?sk=timeline
EP
Insight Institute of Neurosurgery & Neuroscience
https://www.facebook.com/florenceneurosurgeryandspinecenter
USA
AC C
Institute For Spine & Scoliosis
https://www.facebook.com/carolinaneurosurgery/timeline
RI PT
2012
SC
Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
446
Private
Lansing Neurosurgery
2010
USA
438
Private
Comprehensive Neurosurgery
2010
USA
420
Private
Columbia University Department of Neurological Surgery
2009
USA
410
Academic
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
2012
USA
407
Academic
University of Arizona Neurosurgery
2013
USA
DISC Spine Institute
2013
USA
Stanford Neurosurgery
2015
USA
Lancaster NeuroScience & Spine Associates
2011
The Spine Institute at RMA Ortho
2010
Panama City Spine
2013
Pinnacle Brain Spine
The Neurosurgery Center of Colorado
https://www.facebook.com/LansingNeurosurgery/timeline
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ComprehensiveNeurosurgery/169914049695087?sk=timeline
https://www.facebook.com/columbianeuro
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/pages/VCUNeurosurgery/383577098370248?sk=timeline
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/UANeurosurgery
361
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DISC-SpineInstitute/400795476691548
358
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/stanfordneurosurgery
TE D
396
350
Private
https://www.facebook.com/lancasterneuroscience/timeline
USA
324
Private
https://www.facebook.com/SpineRevolution
USA
289
Private
https://www.facebook.com/panamacityspine?fref=ts
2011
USA
274
Private
https://www.facebook.com/PinnacleBrainSpineCenter
2012
USA
271
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Florida-SpineInstitute/125087560879656?sk=timeline
2011
USA
271
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NeurosurgeryCenterofCO/timeline
EP
USA
AC C
Florida Spine Institute
https://www.facebook.com/sierraneurosurgery/timeline
RI PT
2011
SC
Sierra Neurosurgery Group
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
255
Academic
Synergy Spine Center
2011
USA
249
Private
Maine Spine care
2011
USA
247
Private
UW Neurological Surgery
2013
USA
243
Academic
Tampa Bay Neurosurgery & Spine Specialists
2014
USA
231
Private
Georgia Spine & Neurosurgery Center
2012
USA
Axis Neurosurgery and Spine
2014
USA
Metropolitan Neurosurgery, Inc.
2013
USA
Lyerly Neurosurgery
2011
Evergreen Spine & Neurosurgery Center
2014
Advanced Neurosurgery
2012
Southern California Institute of Neurological Surgery Texas Institute of Spine and Neurosurgery
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Synergy-SpineCenter/197848586902409 https://www.facebook.com/mainespinecare
https://www.facebook.com/uwneurosurgery/timeline
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tampa-Bay-NeurosurgerySpine-Specialists/1494209870818573
Private
https://www.facebook.com/georgia.spine/timeline
224
Private
https://www.facebook.com/axisneuro/timeline
203
Private
https://www.facebook.com/Metro.Neurosurgery
TE D
229
202
Private
https://www.facebook.com/lyerlyneurosurgery
USA
192
Private
https://www.facebook.com/doctorsebastian
USA
177
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/AdvancedNeurosurgery/194971287188547?sk=timeline
2014
USA
162
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-California-Institute-ofNeurological-Surgery/678333332195247?sk=timeline
2013
USA
140
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-Institute-of-Spine-andNeurosurgery/683294685036954
2015
USA
129
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NeurosurgeryAssociates
EP
USA
AC C
Neurosurgery Associates
https://www.facebook.com/uvaspinecenter/timeline
RI PT
2013
SC
UVA Orthopedic Spine Center
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
113
Private
IGEA Brain & Spine
2013
USA
111
Private
Wisconsin Neurosurgery SC
2014
USA
102
Private
Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery
2009
USA
100
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wyoming-Spine-NeurosurgeryAssociates-LLC/158041680895565?sk=timeline
RI PT
2012
M AN U TE D EP AC C
https://www.facebook.com/IGEABrainSpine
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wisconsin-NeurosurgerySC/763806566991351?sk=timeline https://www.facebook.com/FrontRangeBrainSpine
SC
Wyoming Spine & Neurosurgery Associates LLC
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Supplementary Table 2. Most popular accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions on Twitter. Year
Country
Followers
Type
Link
San Diego Spine Disc
2009
USA
15200
Private
https://twitter.com/SanDiegoSpine
Capital Region Special Surgery
2014
USA
7650
Private
http://twitter.com/CRSpecialSurger
LaserSpineInstitute
2009
USA
4410
Private
https://twitter.com/LaserSpine
Neurospine Institute
2010
USA
3990
Private
https://twitter.com/NSInstitute
North American Spine
2009
USA
2222
Private
https://twitter.com/NASpine
The Utah Spine and Disc treatment
2010
USA
2017
Private
https://twitter.com/UtahSpineDisc
USC Neurosurgery
2012
USA
1705
Academic
https://twitter.com/NeurosurgeryUSC
UTHSCSA Neurosurgery
2009
USA
1655
Academic
https://twitter.com/uthscsaneuro
Resurgens Spine Center
2012
USA
1390
Private
https://twitter.com/ResurgensSpine
Mayfield Clinic
2009
USA
1385
Academic
https://twitter.com/MayfieldClinic
Spine Institute
2011
USA
1328
Private
https://twitter.com/spine_institute
Neurological Surgery, P.C.
2011
USA
1271
Private
https://twitter.com/NeuroSurgeryPC
2010
USA
1169
Private
https://twitter.com/SpineLaser
2010
USA
1160
Academic
https://twitter.com/UCSDNeuroSurg
2013
Canada
1144
Academic
https://twitter.com/UofTNeuroSurge
2011
USA
981
Private
https://twitter.com/Basic_Spine
2009
USA
970
Private
https://twitter.com/SpinePainBegone
2011
USA
949
Academic
https://twitter.com/MDABrainSpine
U of T Neurosurgery BASIC Spine Spine Pain Be Gone MDA Brain and Spine
SC
M AN U
TE D
EP
UCSD Neurosurgery
AC C
Houston’s Center for Laser Spine Surgery
RI PT
Name
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2014
USA
911
Private
https://twitter.com/MidwestSpineMN
Marina Spine Center
2013
USA
898
Private
https://twitter.com/MDRHSpineCenter
The Anand Spine Group
2010
USA
799
Private
https://twitter.com/InfoSpine
SpineOne
2011
USA
784
Private
https://twitter.com/SpineOneCO
Jagannathan Neurosurgical Institute
2013
USA
745
Private
https://twitter.com/MINeurosurgery
USC Neuro-Oncology
2012
USA
736
University of Minnesota's Neurosurgery Department
2013
USA
729
IGEA Brain & Spine
2011
USA
728
Private
https://twitter.com/IGEABrainSpine
The Bonati Spine Institute
2014
USA
675
Private
https://twitter.com/DrBonati
Shim Spine
2012
USA
661
Private
https://twitter.com/JohnHShimMD
Sea Spine Orthopedic
2012
USA
651
Private
https://twitter.com/seaspineortho
Florida Spine Specialists
2010
USA
609
Private
https://twitter.com/Flspine
Columbia University Medical Center
2009
USA
592
Academic
https://twitter.com/ColumbiaNeuro
Duke Neurosurgery
2014
USA
589
Academic
https://twitter.com/Dukeneurosurg
WCMC Brain and Spine
2012
USA
589
Academic
https://twitter.com/WCMCBrainSpine
2012
USA
539
Academic
https://twitter.com/UB_Neurosurgery
2010
USA
469
Private
https://twitter.com/BNAsurg
2011
USA
434
Private
http://twitter.com/SpineRevolution
2012
USA
420
Private
https://twitter.com/NJ_SPINE
2010
USA
413
Private
https://twitter.com/SpinecenterUSA
Boulder Neurosurgical & Spine Associates The Spine Institute New Jersey Spinal Medicine & Surgery. Spine Centers of America
SC
Academic
https://twitter.com/USCNeuroOnc
Academic
https://twitter.com/umnneurosurgery
M AN U
TE D
EP AC C
University at Buffalo Neurosurgery
RI PT
Midwest Spine & Brain Institute
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2011
USA
396
Private
https://twitter.com/YourSpineHealth
UMich Neurosurgery
2013
USA
355
Academic
https://twitter.com/umichneuro
DeukSpine
2010
USA
332
Private
https://twitter.com/DeukSpine10
Sonoran Spine
2013
USA
294
Private
https://twitter.com/SonoranSpine
UNC Neurosurgery
2013
USA
294
Academic
https://twitter.com/UNCneurosurgery
Spine Team Texas
2010
USA
254
Pinnacle Brain Spine
2011
USA
244
Western Neurosurgery
2013
Canada
230
Academic
https://twitter.com/westernu_nsx
Synergy Spine Center
2011
USA
218
Private
https://twitter.com/synergyspine
Dal Spine Program
2012
Canada
210
Academic
https://twitter.com/DalSpine
Microsurgical Spine Center
2013
USA
176
Private
https://twitter.com/MyBackMyLife
Metropolitan Neurosurgery, Inc.
2013
USA
164
Private
https://twitter.com/NJNeurosurgery
Midwest Neurosurgeons
2012
USA
156
Private
https://twitter.com/MidwestNeuro
The Neurosurgery Center of Colorado
2011
USA
153
Private
https://twitter.com/NeurosurgeryCO
New Jersey Spine Specialists
2013
USA
147
Private
https://twitter.com/spine_nj
2012
USA
145
Private
https://twitter.com/TexasBrainSpine
2011
USA
139
Private
https://twitter.com/MaineSpinecare
2009
USA
133
Private
https://twitter.com/brain_spine
2011
USA
130
Private
https://twitter.com/MichiganBrain
2013
USA
123
Private
https://twitter.com/panamacityortho
Maine Spinecare Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery Michigan Brain & Spine Surgery Center Panama City Spine
SC Private
https://twitter.com/SpineTeamTexas
Private
https://twitter.com/pbscmd
M AN U
TE D
EP AC C
North Texas Brain & Spine Institute
RI PT
Kraus Back & Neck
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
108
Private
https://twitter.com/SpineInstitut
EP
TE D
M AN U
SC
RI PT
2011
AC C
NJ Spine Institute
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
FACEBOOK
RI PT
Supplementary Table 3. Accounts of neurosurgical journals on Facebook and Twitter.
Year
Country
Likes
Link
NEUROSURGERY Journal
2009
USA
15326
https://www.facebook.com/NeurosurgeryCNS
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
2010
UK
9091
https://www.facebook.com/JNNP.BMJ
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2012
USA
2795
Spine
2011
USA
Name
Year
Country
NEUROSURGERY Journal
2009
USA
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2009
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry Spine
SC
Name
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Journal-of-Neurosurgery-PublishingGroup/149829721737847
1233
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spine-An-International-Peer-ReviewedPeriodical/110235899067897?sk=timeline
Followers
Link
7350
https://twitter.com/NeurosurgeryCNS
USA
3825
https://twitter.com/thejns
2010
UK
3288
https://twitter.com/JNNP_BMJ
2011
USA
1408
https://twitter.com/SpineWebJournal
AC C
EP
TE D
TWITTER
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Year
Country
Followers
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2012
USA
9019
Scoliosis Research Society
2011
USA
4762
Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery
2011
Brazil
4577
Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
2011
USA
North American Spine Society (NASS)
2010
USA
EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe
2012
Euro
CSNS -Council of State Neurosurgical Societies
2008
USA
Association of Neurosurgical Physician Assistants
2014
Link
https://www.facebook.com/AANSNeuro
M AN U
Name
SC
Facebook
RI PT
Supplementary Table 4. Accounts of neurosurgical professional associations and societies on Facebook and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/ScoliosisResearchSociety/timeline https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sociedade-Brasileira-deNeurocirurgia/169135703122913?sk=timeline https://www.facebook.com/cns.update
2661
https://www.facebook.com/NASS.Spine
1412
https://www.facebook.com/EUROSPINE
1105
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CSNS-Council-of-StateNeurosurgical-Societies/32125970850
TE D
3414
USA
299
https://www.facebook.com/neurosurgicalPA
USA
170
https://www.facebook.com/assfn.org/timeline
N/A
90
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-International-Society-forthe-Study-of-the-Lumbar-Spine/1396088907323562
Year
Country
Followers
Link
2010
USA
3690
https://twitter.com/nassspine
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2011
USA
3680
https://twitter.com/AANSNeuro
Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
2011
USA
2788
https://twitter.com/CNS_Update
Name North American Spine Society (NASS)
2014
AC C
Twitter
2012
EP
American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2012
Euro
673
https://twitter.com/EuroSpineSoc
The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine
2014
USA
90
https://twitter.com/ISSLS_Society
CSNS -Council of State Neurosurgical Societies
2011
USA
64
RI PT
EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe
AC C
EP
TE D
M AN U
SC
https://twitter.com/councilsns
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Year
subscribers
total views
Type
American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)
2011
6,988
877,278
Society
https://www.youtube.com/user/AANSNeurosurgery/about
MicroNeuroSurgeryOrg
2010
5,388
3,254,061
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/MicroNeuroSurgeryOrg/abou t
The Neurosurgical Atlas by Aaron Cohen-Gadol, M.D.
2007
2,972
334,404
NEUROSURGERY Journal
2009
2,804
Laser Spine Institute
2008
827
CDA Spine.
2008
641
NorthAmericanSpine
2009
545
Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF)
2014
533
Univ of Pittsburgh Neurosurgery
2010
351
Portland Neurosurgery
2012
Atlantic Spine Center
2013
USC neurosurgery Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Society
Link
https://www.youtube.com/user/acohenmd/about
Journal
https://www.youtube.com/user/NeurosurgeryCNS/about
494,231
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/LaserSpineInstitute/about
724,494
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/cdaspine/about
891,241
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/NorthAmericanSpine/about
16,870
Society
https://www.youtube.com/user/NREFvideos/about
41,621
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/neuroPitt/about
314
106,150
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/PortlandNeurosurgery/about
307
1,473,881
Private
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsPizUq7CQLVVjVpcX7NDw/about
EP
TE D
666,466
AC C
CNS Video Library
SC
Name
M AN U
RI PT
Supplementary Table 5. Most popular neurosurgical YouTube channels.
2011
292
16,961
Society
https://www.youtube.com/user/cnsvideolibrary/about
2011
259
102,571
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/uscneurosurgery/about
2014
181
1,100
Journal
https://www.youtube.com/user/JNNPBMJ/about
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2011
141
14,900
Academic
Neurological Surgery, P.C.
2010
138
429,958
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/NeurosurgeryLI/about
Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine
2010
134
63,045
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/CarolinaNeurosurgery/about
The Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center
2012
105
33,013
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/BrainSpineCenter/about
Deuk Spine Institute
2009
104
144,687
SC Private
M AN U TE D EP AC C
https://www.youtube.com/user/UCSFNeurosurgery/about
RI PT
UCSFNeurosurgery
https://www.youtube.com/user/deukspineinstitute/about
S1878-8750(15)01528-4
DOI:
10.1016/j.wneu.2015.11.011
Reference:
WNEU 3405
To appear in:
World Neurosurgery
Received Date: 22 September 2015 Accepted Date: 1 November 2015
Please cite this article as: Alotaibi NM, Badhiwala JH, Nassiri F, Guha D, Ibrahim GM, Shamji MF, Lozano AM, The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery, World Neurosurgery (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2015.11.011. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Alotaibi
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Title: The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery Authors: Naif M. Alotaibi, M.D.1,2, Jetan H. Badhiwala, M.D.1, Farshad Nassiri, M.D.1, Daipayan Guha, M.D.1, George M. Ibrahim, M.D., Ph.D.1, Mohammed F.
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Shamji, M.D., Ph.D.1,3, Andres M Lozano, MD, Ph.D.1,3
Affiliations: 1 Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2 Department of Neurosurgery, National
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Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and 3
Corresponding Author:
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Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Andres M Lozano, MD, Ph.D
Professor and Dan Family Chairman of Neurosurgery University of Toronto RR Tasker Chair in Functional Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital Senior Scientist, Toronto Western Research Institute
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399 Bathurst St., WW 4-447 Toronto, ON M5T 2S8 Tel: (416) 603-5800 ext. 3712 Fax: (416) 603-5298
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Email: [email protected]
Submission: World Neurosurgery Journal
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Manuscript word count: 2263 Title character count: 47 Figures: 1 Tables: 4
Supplementary tables: 5 Keywords: Social Media; Neurosurgery; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube Short working title: Social media in neurosurgery.
Page 1
Alotaibi
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT INTRODUCTION Social media broadly refers to any online forum allowing group communication through text, audio, images, and/or video. Information on social media is easily accessible, modifiable, and publishable by an online community.
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Current forms of social media include text blogging (e.g., WordPress, Twitter), photo and video content communities (e.g., Flickr, Instagram, YouTube), and networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, ResearchGate).
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The use of social networks in particular is growing rapidly. Pew Research
Center reported that as of January 2014, 74% of online adults use social media1, with
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Facebook (1.44 billion monthly active users)2 and Twitter (300 million monthly active users)3 being the most popular sites.
In health care, social networks may provide an online society linking not only physicians, trainees and researchers, for instance via ResearchGate, but also
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physicians and hospitals to patients4. Academic and private practice departments are also increasingly capitalizing on these networks to connect with patients to discuss their treatments options, with the broader public to augment their stature and publicize
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their accomplishments as well as with philanthropists and funding institutions to earn
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greater visibility5. Major medical journals are currently using Facebook and Twitter to boost awareness of their publications, and the number of their users is rapidly growing. The number of followers for The Lancet and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Twitter accounts has tripled between May 2012 and October 2014 (The Lancet, 36,730 to 142,000; JAMA, 18,422 to 95,600)6. Given the importance of social media in medicine, it is important to identify its use within the neurosurgical community. The use of social networking sites in ophthalmology,6 dermatology,7 urology8 and radiology9, 10 has recently been studied.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Neurosurgery, as an inherently academic specialty, may require far more institutional effort to develop and maintain social media representation. The goal of this study was to evaluate and measure the presence of neurosurgical departments, journals, nonprofit organizations on the 3 major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and
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YouTube). The current study hopes to provide an account of the current usage of
social media in neurosurgery and inform future uses by individuals, institutions and
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societies.
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METHODS
In order to gauge the online footprint of private and academic practices, neurosurgical journals and professional societies, a comprehensive search strategy was employed to determine the extent of social media usage in neurosurgery. A systematic online search strategy was employed in June 2015, in order to identify all
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accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube that were relevant to neurosurgery. A two-pronged approach was utilized whereby first, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were searched for the presence of neurosurgical sites and second, neurosurgical
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websites were searched for external links to these social networking sites. Two
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authors independently conducted all searches and extracted data. Disagreements between reviewers were resolved by consensus, and if needed, by consultation with a third reviewer.
For every social media account searched, we collected website-specific data
on site attendance/popularity: the number of “likes” (Facebook), “followers” (Twitter), or “subscribers” and “total views” (YouTube). For institutional accounts, we collected data on the year that the organization joined the network, the type of practice (academic or private), and country of practice (USA or Canada). Accounts
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT that had less than 100 “likes” or “followers” or “subscriber”, accounts of institutions providing only non-surgical treatments (e.g., chiropractic, acupuncture, epidural injections, etc.), and unofficial accounts were all excluded.
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Neurosurgical Institutions
The official websites for academic neurosurgical units registered with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the Royal
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College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, were searched for external links to
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dedicated Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube pages. If there was no external link available, or for private practice centers, online searches combining the full name and/or abbreviation of the institution (e.g. University of Toronto, U of T) and a general search with keywords pertinent to neurosurgery (neurosurgery, neurological surgery, neurosurgical, brain, spine) were conducted on each of Facebook, Twitter,
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and YouTube. We only included accounts that were solely dedicated to neurosurgery or spine surgery departments or centers in North America.
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Neurosurgical Journals
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By searching Thomson Reuters’ Master Journal List using the same neurosurgery-related keywords, we identified 20 neurosurgical and spine journals (Table 1). The official website of each journal was visited in order to find external links to dedicated Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts. If there was no external link available, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were each searched individually using the same strategy as for institutional accounts.
Professional, scientific and educational associations
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT A list of professional, scientific, and educational associations and societies was created by searching the affiliated organizations listed on the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) website
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(http://www.aans.org/Related%20Organizations.aspx). Associations or societies that were affiliated with journals included in our study were also added to this list (Table
2). The official website of each association and/or society was visited in order to find external links to dedicated Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube accounts. If there was no
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external link available, each of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was searched
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individually, as before.
Foundations and support groups
In order to identify foundations and support groups related to neurosurgery, we used two publicly-accessible websites (https://www.quintly.com/ and
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https://followerwonk.com ) that retrieve and rank Facebook and Twitter pages according to their popularity. We manually examined the top accounts in the “Non-
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profit organizations” category to identify only the top five followed accounts related to the neurosurgical community. Where appropriate, the neurosurgical focus of the
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account, and numbers of “likes” and or “followers” were recorded for each account.
RESULTS
The most popular Facebook and Twitter accounts of private and academic
departments, peer-reviewed journals, professional associations and societies, and nonprofit foundations and support groups in the field of neurosurgery, are presented in Table 3. Table 4 summarizes the most popular neurosurgical YouTube accounts. Full lists of our search results can be seen in the supplementary tables.
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Neurosurgical institutions Our search yielded 158 social media accounts (86 Facebook, 59 Twitter, and 13 YouTube) officially affiliated with neurosurgical institutions. Of the 158 accounts,
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117 represented private practice centers (74%). For both Facebook and Twitter,
accounts of academic and private practices had a similar median number of “likes”
and “followers”, although the most popular private practice accounts had far more hits
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(Fig 1A and 1B). Accounts of private neurosurgical departments attracted more
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subscribers than academic centers on YouTube (Fig 1C).The total number of likes on Facebook was 166,310 and total number of followers on Twitter was 67,968.
Neurosurgical peer-reviewed journals
Of the 20 spine/neurosurgery peer-reviewed journals we investigated, only
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seven had active Facebook and Twitter accounts: the four journals for Journal of Neurosurgery (JNS) Publishing Group in one combined account, NEUROSURGERY, Spine, and the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry (JNNP). Three of
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these, NEUROSURGERY, JNS, and JNNP, also had YouTube accounts. The total
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number of likes on Facebook was 28,445 and total number of followers on Twitter was 15,871.
Professional, scientific, and educational associations We identified 10 Facebook and 6 Twitter accounts, along with 4 YouTube channels that were linked to our list of 36 associations. The highest number of “likes” on Facebook and subscribers on YouTube belonged to the American Association of
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Neurological Surgeons (AANS), while the most followed Twitter account was for the North American Spine Society (NASS).
Foundations and support groups
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Among non-profit foundations, the most followed accounts on Facebook and Twitter belonged to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson
Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Epilepsy Foundation of America,
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the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, The Children’s Trust, the Raising Hope
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Foundation, and the Spina Bifida Association of America. The total number of likes/followers on Facebook and Twitter was 1,006,859 and 285,700, respectively.
DISCUSSION
We have identified the most popular social sites for neurosurgical
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departments, journals, professional associations and non-profit support organizations. These sites provide an important portal for neurosurgical groups to interact with colleagues, students and patients. To our knowledge, this is the first snapshot in the
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literature of the current use of social media in North American neurosurgery.
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Private practice groups showed a clear dominance in social media presence compared to academic institutions. This may be related in part to the number of surgeons employed at each academic institution, which often is less than at each private center 11, 12, the types of typical surgical interventions, and differing financial compensation models. Private centers, which rely on a steady stream of patients for income, and which perform day surgery and newer minimally-invasive spinal techniques regarding which patients may have more questions, may therefore have both financial and public-relations incentives to maintain greater social media
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT presences. This has been corroborated in a study of social media sites for radiology practice groups9. Canadian departments were significantly under-represented in our search. There were only two academic divisions (University of Toronto, University of
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Western Ontario) with any social media presence. Lack of Canadian representation in our list can be explained partly by the predominant mode of health insurance, which in Canada is entirely publicly funded, precluding any significant developments in
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neurosurgical private practice.
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Many journals adopted social media to broaden their audience and to engage with their readers. Recent social media-based scientometrics have shown that a peak in social networking activity can correlate with the subsequent citation rate of newly published scientific articles13, 14 and can widen the readership of scientific articles15. Only 7 journals out of 20 neurosurgical journals (35%) had external links for social
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media sites. This rate is similar or slightly higher to journals in other specialties (24% in urological journals, 12-13% in dermatological journals, 18-21% in ophthalmological journals)6-8. The numbers of followers or likes for neurosurgical
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journals, when compared to higher impact journals, are certainly small. For example,
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NEUROSURGERY was liked by 15,326 users on Facebook, in contrast to more than 1 million likes for The New England Journal of Medicine page. Such figures are reflective of the smaller scientific audience for neurosurgery, and subsequent differences in marketing strategies. Compared to journals, there is noticeably more interest in social media by neurosurgical societies and professional organizations. This is seen recently in neurosurgical conferences that have developed event specific Twitter hashtags (#CNS2014, #AANS2015, #WFNS) to promote live ‘tweeting’ and interaction with
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT attendees. Wilkinson and his colleagues16 prospectively followed hashtags of eight international urology conferences and analyzed their social media metrics for 3 consecutive years. Their study showed significant increase in numbers of users (a 10fold increase) and number of tweets (from 347 to almost 6000 tweet) over 3 years.
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Social media sites for non-profit patient-centered organizations and
foundations had the highest number of total followers and likes in our study. The total likes/followers for our list of top 5 foundations were over 1 million. This number is
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higher than the overall numbers for all academic and private practice departments
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(145 accounts on Facebook and Twitter) that had only 234,000 followers and likes. The preferential use of social media by patients may be explained by the interactive nature of these networks and the tendency to search medical information online17. A recent study from University of Alabama showed that almost half of caregivers of children with hydrocephalus used social media for hydrocephalus-related purposes18.
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YouTube has emerged as one of the largest freely accessible sources of video content. The AANS YouTube channel, which is also the official channel for the Journal of Neurosurgery, had the largest numbers of subscribers among all
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neurosurgical channels in our search. The channel posted historical videos, high-yield
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educational lectures for residents, and interviews with pioneers in neurosurgery. Use of YouTube for publishing peer-reviewed scientific videos represent an important tool to support independent learning and a great advance in surgical education, compared to conventional drawings and photographs. All of the reviewed social networks sites in our study have certain abilities, advantages and disadvantages that must be considered before utilization. Dissemination, outreach, free access, education, awareness, fundraising, and directing patients with accurate information are all examples of potential benefits. Popularity
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT versus quality, pseudoscience, unsubstantiated claims, privacy breach, lack of peer review, and economic misadventures are possible dangers of misusing these networks by patients or clinicians. This work has several potential limitations. First, although our search strategy
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was systematic and was employed independently by two reviewers, it is not
guaranteed to be exhaustive. The strategy may be limited by our choice of search terms, and the use of non-verified third-party social media analytic applications.
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Second, we only analyzed neurosurgical presence in 3 sites, as they represent the most
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commonly used social media platforms. Finally, it must be mentioned that our study represents only a snapshot of the current state of neurosurgical social media; particularly for online presences, lists are dynamic and may change on a rapid time
CONCLUSION
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scale.
The role of social media in neurosurgery can be influential, and this study shows different uses of social media platforms and numbers of users of the online
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neurosurgical community that can be reached. The high reach observed on each of
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these platforms may represent an opportunity to communicate clinical and scholarly interests and encourage discussion surrounding best practices. Well-defined management of privacy concerns and pre-publication data confidentiality will be important to establish prior to promoting further engagement of participants. Queries and discussions in terms of measures of users’ engagement, content "reachability", and subsequent effects on academic impact to neurosurgical departments and journals are still unclear. Further prospective studies are needed to understand the detailed social media metrics in relation to neurosurgery.
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References
1.
Pew Research Center. Social Networking Fact Sheet.
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http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/. Accessed June 2015. 2.
Facebook Newsroom. Company Info. http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/.
Twitter. Company Facts. http://about.twitter.com/company/. Accessed June 2015.
4.
Boyer C. Social media for healthcare makes sense. Front Health Serv Manage. Winter 2011;28(2):35-40.
5.
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3.
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Accessed June 2015.
Steele SR, Arshad S, Bush R, et al. Social media is a necessary component of
6.
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surgery practice. Surgery. Jul 2 2015.
Micieli JA, Tsui E. Ophthalmology on social networking sites: an observational study of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Clin Ophthalmol. 2015;9:285-290. Amir M, Sampson BP, Endly D, et al. Social networking sites: emerging and
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7.
essential tools for communication in dermatology. JAMA Dermatol. Jan
8.
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2014;150(1):56-60.
Nason GJ, O'Kelly F, Kelly ME, et al. The emerging use of Twitter by urological
journals. BJU Int. Mar 2015;115(3):486-490.
9.
Glover M, Choy G, Boland GW, Saini S, Prabhakar AM. Radiology and social media: are private practice radiology groups more social than academic radiology departments? J Am Coll Radiol. May 2015;12(5):513-518.
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Hawkins CM, Duszak R, Rawson JV. Social media in radiology: early trends in Twitter microblogging at radiology's largest international meeting. J Am Coll Radiol. Apr 2014;11(4):387-390.
11.
Friedlich DL, Feustel PJ, Popp AJ. Workforce demand for neurosurgeons in the
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United States of America: a 13-year retrospective study. J Neurosurg. Jun 1999;90(6):993-997. 12.
Gottfried ON, Rovit RL, Popp AJ, Kraus KL, Simon AS, Couldwell WT. Neurosurgical
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workforce trends in the United States. J Neurosurg. Feb 2005;102(2):202-208.
Thelwall M, Haustein S, Lariviere V, Sugimoto CR. Do altmetrics work? Twitter and
14.
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ten other social web services. PLoS One. 2013;8(5):e64841.
Eysenbach G. Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on Twitter and correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. J Med Internet Res. 2011;13(4):e123.
Allen HG, Stanton TR, Di Pietro F, Moseley GL. Social media release increases
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15.
dissemination of original articles in the clinical pain sciences. PLoS One. 2013;8(7):e68914.
Wilkinson SE, Basto MY, Perovic G, Lawrentschuk N, Murphy DG. The social media
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16.
revolution is changing the conference experience: analytics and trends from eight
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international meetings. BJU Int. May 2015;115(5):839-846.
17.
Hesse BW, Nelson DE, Kreps GL, et al. Trust and sources of health information: the impact of the Internet and its implications for health care providers: findings from the first Health Information National Trends Survey. Arch Intern Med. Dec 12-26 2005;165(22):2618-2624.
18.
Naftel RP, Safiano NA, Falola MI, Shannon CN, Wellons JC, 3rd, Johnston JM, Jr. Technology preferences among caregivers of children with hydrocephalus. J Neurosurg Pediatr. Jan 2013;11(1):26-36. Page 12
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Figure 1. Box and whisker plots of number of likes, followers, and subscribers stratified by academic or private institution for Facebook (A), Twitter (B), and
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YouTube (C), respectively.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT TABLE 1: List of screened neurosurgical and spine journals
British Journal of Neurosurgery Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
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Journal of Neurological Surgery Part A-Central European Neurosurgery Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry*
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Journal of Neurosurgery* Journal of Neurosurgery-Pediatrics* Journal of Neurosurgery-Spine*
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Neurosurgery* Neurosurgery Clinics of North America Pediatric Neurosurgery Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
World Neurosurgery
Neurosurgical Focus* Neurosurgical Review European Spine Journal Spine* Spine Journal
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Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences
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Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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Turkish Neurosurgery
* dedicated social media network account (Facebook or Twitter)
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT TABLE 2: List of screened professional, scientific and educational associations
Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery *
Academy of Medical Administrators
German Academy of Neurological Surgery
American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
Southeast Europe Neurosurgical Society
American Board of Neurological Surgery
World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
Association of Neurosurgical Physician Assistants*
American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery*
Congress of Neurological Surgeons*
European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery Executives’ Resource Value and Education Society
Turkish Neurosurgical Society
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American Academy of Neurological Surgery American*
Korean Neurosurgical Society
(NERVES)
Italian Society of Neurosurgery
Neurosurgical Society of America
EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe*
Society of Neurological Surgeons
Cervical Spine Research Society
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Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC)
SocioEconomic Section/CSNS (Council for State Neurological Societies)*
Finnish Spine Research Society
World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies
International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine *
North American Skull Base Society European Skull Base Society Japanese Skull Base Society
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German Society of Neurosurgery
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Society of British Neurological Surgeons
Korean Skull Base Society
* dedicated social media network account (Facebook or Twitter)
Japan Spine Research Society Korean Society of Spine Surgery Scoliosis Research Society* Spine Society of Australia North American Spine Society*
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FACEBOOK ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS Institution U of T Neurosurgery University of Michigan Mayfield Clinic UTHSCSA Neurosurgery USC Department of Neurosurgery
Year 2013 2013 2009 2009 2012
Country Canada USA USA USA USA
Facebook likes 3,518 2,659 1,453 1,296 1,226
TWITTER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS Institution USC Neurosurgery UTHSCSA Neurosurgery Mayfield Clinic UCSD Neurosurgery U of T Neurosurgery
PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS Institution Laser Spine Institute Bonati Spine Institute Neurological Surgery, P.C. Spine Physicians Institute Nebraska Spine Hospital
Year 2009 2010 2010 2011 2012
Country USA USA USA USA USA
Facebook likes 25000 21000 16000 6454 6000
Year 2009
Country USA
Facebook likes 15326
2010
UK
9091
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2012
USA
2795
Spine
2011
USA
1233
Country
Facebook likes
USA
9019
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/SOCIETIES Association/Society Year The American Association of Neurological 2012 Surgeons
2011
USA
Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
2011 2011
Brazil USA
4577 3414
North American Spine Society (NASS)
2010
USA
2661
Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
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FOUNDATIONS AND SUPPORT GROUPS Foundation The Michael J. Fox Foundation National Parkinson Foundation Heart and Stroke Foundation Epilepsy Foundation of America
4762
EP
Scoliosis Research Society
Focus Parkinson Parkinson Stroke Epilepsy Spinal Cord Injury
Facebook likes 449,894 208,965 206,000 98,000
44,000
Twitter followers 1705 1655 1385 1160 1144
PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS Institution San Diego Spine Disc Capital Region Special Surgery Laser Spine Institute Neurospine Institute North American Spine
Year 2009 2014 2009 2010 2009
Country USA USA USA USA USA
Twitter followers 15200 7650 4410 3990 2999
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS Journal NEUROSURGERY Journal
Year 2009
Country USA
Twitter followers 7350
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2009
USA
3825
2010
UK
3288
2011
USA
1408
Country
Twitter followers
2010
USA
3690
2011
USA
3680
2011 2012
USA Euro
2788 673
2014
USA
90
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Country USA USA USA USA Canada
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PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS Journal NEUROSURGERY Journal Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
Year 2012 2009 2009 2010 2013
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry Spine
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/SOCIETIES Association/Society Year
North American Spine Society (NASS) The American Association of Neurological Surgeons Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine FOUNDATIONS AND SUPPORT GROUPS Foundation The Children's Trust Raisin Hope Foundation The Michael J. Fox Foundation Spina Bifida Association of America
Heart and Stroke Foundation
Focus TBI TBI Parkinson Spina Bifida
Twitter followers 101,000 74,600 47,000 31,700
Stroke
31,400
TABLE 3: Top five most popular accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions, peer-reviewed journals, professional associations and societies, and foundations/support groups on Facebook and Twitter (U of T; University of Toronto, UTHSCSA; University of Texas Health Science Center, USC; University of Southern California, UCSD; University of California in San Diego)
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Year
Subscribers
Total Views
Type
American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)
2011
MicroNeuroSurgeryOrg
2010
6,988
877,278
Society
5,388
3,254,061
Private
The Neurosurgical Atlas (AANS Operative Grand Rounds) NEUROSURGERY Journal
2007 2009
2,972 2,804
334,404 666,466
Society Journal
Laser Spine Institute
2008
827
494,231
Private
Coeur d’Alene (CDA) Spine. NorthAmericanSpine
2008 2009
641 545
724,494 891,241
Private Private
Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF)
2014
533
16,870
Society
Univ of Pittsburgh Neurosurgery Portland Neurosurgery
2010 2012
351 314
41,621 106,150
Academic Private
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Name
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TABLE 4: Top ten most popular Youtube accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions, peerreviewed journals, professional associations and societies.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Highlights: The Current Use of Social Media in Neurosurgery •
This report provide a description of the current usage of social media in neurosurgery. Most popular social media accounts in neurosurgery are presented.
•
Of the 158 accounts found, 117 represented private practice centers (74%).
•
Non-profit patient-centered organizations/foundations had the highest number of total followers and likes in our search.
•
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•
Advantages and pitfalls of social media, and the impact on citatons are
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reviewd and discussed.
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Abbreviations and Acronyms: JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association; ACGME: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; AANS: American Association of
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Neurological Surgeons; WFNS: World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies; CNS:
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Congress of Neurological Surgeons
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Year
Country
Likes
Type
Laser Spine Institute
2009
USA
25000
Private
Bonati Spine Institute
2010
USA
21000
Private
Neurological Surgery, P.C.
2010
USA
16000
Private
Spine Physicians Institute
2011
USA
Nebraska Spine Hospital
2012
USA
Atlantic Spine Center
2012
USA
North American Spine
2009
Georgia Neurological Surgery & Comprehensive Spine
2012
El Paso Spine Center
2012
North Texas Brain & Spine Institute
Southern Brain & Spine
https://www.facebook.com/laserspineinstitute
https://www.facebook.com/BonatiSpineInstitute
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https://www.facebook.com/neurosurgerypc/info?tab=overview
Private
https://www.facebook.com/spinephysiciansinstitute
6000
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NESpineHospital
4809
Private
https://www.facebook.com/AtlanticSpineCenter
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6454
4686
Private
https://www.facebook.com/northamericanspine/timeline
USA
4413
Private
https://www.facebook.com/georgianeuro/timeline
USA
4167
Private
https://www.facebook.com/ElPasoSpineCenter/timeline
2010
USA
3685
Private
https://www.facebook.com/TexasBrainSpine
2013
Canada
3518
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/UOfTNeurosurgery
2012
USA
3129
Private
https://www.facebook.com/sbsdocs
EP
USA
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U of T Neurosurgery
Link
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Name
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Supplementary Table 1. Most popular accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions on Facebook.
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USA
3096
Private
Houston Spine Doc, Navin Subramanian, M.D.
2012
USA
3080
Private
BioSpine Institute
2014
USA
2865
Private
Peachtree Neurosurgery
2012
USA
2852
Private
University of Michigan
2013
USA
2659
Academic
Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C.
2011
USA
Microsurgical Spine Center
2013
USA
Oklahoma Spine & Brain Institute
2014
USA
Regional Brain & Spine
2013
Precision Spine Care
2012
Resurgens Spine Center
2010
Jagannathan Neurosurgery
National Capital Neurosurgery
https://www.facebook.com/HoustonSpineDoc
https://www.facebook.com/pages/BioSpineInstitute/696707510367097 https://www.facebook.com/PeachtreeNeurosurgery
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https://www.facebook.com/umichneuro
Private
https://www.facebook.com/LongIslandSpineSpecialists/timeline
2128
Private
https://www.facebook.com/MyBackMyLife
1975
Private
https://www.facebook.com/okspineandbrain
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2260
1950
Private
https://www.facebook.com/RegionalBrainandSpine
USA
1784
Private
https://www.facebook.com/PrecisionSpineCare/timeline
USA
1744
Private
https://www.facebook.com/resurgensspine
2013
USA
1553
Private
https://www.facebook.com/JagannathanNeurosurgery?fref=ts
2010
USA
1499
Private
https://www.facebook.com/laserspinesurgery/timeline
2013
USA
1490
Private
https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonBrainSpineInstitute/timeline
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USA
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Deuk Spine Institute
https://www.facebook.com/Basicspine
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2012
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BASIC Spine
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USA
1453
Academic
Advanced Neurosurgery Associates
2013
USA
1341
Private
UTHSCSA Neurosurgery
2009
USA
1296
Academic
USC Department of Neurosurgery
2012
USA
1226
Academic
UB Neurosurgery
2010
USA
1146
Academic
Midwest Neurosurgeons
2012
USA
Michigan Brain & Spine Surgery Center
2011
USA
American Spine
2011
USA
Indiana Spine Group
2012
Duke Neurosurgery
2014
Weill Cornell Pediatric Brain and Spine Center
2011
Marina Spine Center
https://www.facebook.com/MayfieldClinic
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2009
https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedNeurosurgeryAssociates
https://www.facebook.com/UTHSCSANeurosurgery https://www.facebook.com/USCNeurologicalSurgery
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Mayfield Clinic
https://www.facebook.com/ubneurosurgery?fref=photo
Private
https://www.facebook.com/MidwestNeurosurgeons/timeline
1068
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michigan-Brain-Spine-SurgeryCenter-Lucia-Zamorano-MD-PLC/178667325511829
975
Private
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanSpine/timeline
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1086
961
Private
https://www.facebook.com/indianaspinegroup/timeline
USA
888
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/dukeneurosurgery
USA
871
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/WeillCornellPediatricBrainandSpine/tim eline
2013
USA
839
Private
https://www.facebook.com/MDRHSpineCenter/timeline
University of Minnesota Department of Neurosurgery
2013
USA
810
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/UMNNeurosurgery
Scoliosis and Spine Associates
2011
USA
798
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scoliosis-and-Spine-AssociatesBaron-Lonner-MD/196317340389630?sk=timeline
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USA
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USA
778
Academic
Florence Neurosurgery & Spine Center
2014
USA
775
Private
OHSU Neurological Surgery
2010
USA
774
Academic
Center for Advanced Neurological Surgery
2010
USA
738
Private
Neurosurgery Residency at Barrow Neurological Instit ute
2011
USA
707
Academic
Neurological Surgery Associates
2012
USA
UCLA Neurosurgery
2011
USA
North Valley Neurosurgery
2011
USA
Princeton Neurological Surgery
2013
Spine Associates Richard Francis, MD
2009
Spine Team Texas
2012
UC San Diego Neurosurgery
https://www.facebook.com/OHSUNeurologicalSurgery http://www.facebook.com/188691867810
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/bnineurosurgery
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neurological-SurgeryAssociates/388737894515417?sk=timeline
692
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/pages/UCLANeurosurgery/179782942050505
664
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NVNEUROKPAGE/timeline
TE D
702
661
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Princeton-NeurologicalSurgery/288839567918822
USA
653
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spine-Associates-RichardFrancis-MD/149107073044?sk=timeline
USA
634
Private
https://www.facebook.com/spineteamtexas?ref=ts
2011
USA
561
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/ucsdneuro
2014
USA
553
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NYSpineAndScoliosis/timeline
2012
USA
540
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/IINN-Insight-Institute-ofNeurosurgery-Neuroscience/111040392273864?sk=timeline
EP
Insight Institute of Neurosurgery & Neuroscience
https://www.facebook.com/florenceneurosurgeryandspinecenter
USA
AC C
Institute For Spine & Scoliosis
https://www.facebook.com/carolinaneurosurgery/timeline
RI PT
2012
SC
Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
446
Private
Lansing Neurosurgery
2010
USA
438
Private
Comprehensive Neurosurgery
2010
USA
420
Private
Columbia University Department of Neurological Surgery
2009
USA
410
Academic
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
2012
USA
407
Academic
University of Arizona Neurosurgery
2013
USA
DISC Spine Institute
2013
USA
Stanford Neurosurgery
2015
USA
Lancaster NeuroScience & Spine Associates
2011
The Spine Institute at RMA Ortho
2010
Panama City Spine
2013
Pinnacle Brain Spine
The Neurosurgery Center of Colorado
https://www.facebook.com/LansingNeurosurgery/timeline
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ComprehensiveNeurosurgery/169914049695087?sk=timeline
https://www.facebook.com/columbianeuro
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/pages/VCUNeurosurgery/383577098370248?sk=timeline
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/UANeurosurgery
361
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DISC-SpineInstitute/400795476691548
358
Academic
https://www.facebook.com/stanfordneurosurgery
TE D
396
350
Private
https://www.facebook.com/lancasterneuroscience/timeline
USA
324
Private
https://www.facebook.com/SpineRevolution
USA
289
Private
https://www.facebook.com/panamacityspine?fref=ts
2011
USA
274
Private
https://www.facebook.com/PinnacleBrainSpineCenter
2012
USA
271
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Florida-SpineInstitute/125087560879656?sk=timeline
2011
USA
271
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NeurosurgeryCenterofCO/timeline
EP
USA
AC C
Florida Spine Institute
https://www.facebook.com/sierraneurosurgery/timeline
RI PT
2011
SC
Sierra Neurosurgery Group
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
255
Academic
Synergy Spine Center
2011
USA
249
Private
Maine Spine care
2011
USA
247
Private
UW Neurological Surgery
2013
USA
243
Academic
Tampa Bay Neurosurgery & Spine Specialists
2014
USA
231
Private
Georgia Spine & Neurosurgery Center
2012
USA
Axis Neurosurgery and Spine
2014
USA
Metropolitan Neurosurgery, Inc.
2013
USA
Lyerly Neurosurgery
2011
Evergreen Spine & Neurosurgery Center
2014
Advanced Neurosurgery
2012
Southern California Institute of Neurological Surgery Texas Institute of Spine and Neurosurgery
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Synergy-SpineCenter/197848586902409 https://www.facebook.com/mainespinecare
https://www.facebook.com/uwneurosurgery/timeline
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tampa-Bay-NeurosurgerySpine-Specialists/1494209870818573
Private
https://www.facebook.com/georgia.spine/timeline
224
Private
https://www.facebook.com/axisneuro/timeline
203
Private
https://www.facebook.com/Metro.Neurosurgery
TE D
229
202
Private
https://www.facebook.com/lyerlyneurosurgery
USA
192
Private
https://www.facebook.com/doctorsebastian
USA
177
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/AdvancedNeurosurgery/194971287188547?sk=timeline
2014
USA
162
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-California-Institute-ofNeurological-Surgery/678333332195247?sk=timeline
2013
USA
140
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-Institute-of-Spine-andNeurosurgery/683294685036954
2015
USA
129
Private
https://www.facebook.com/NeurosurgeryAssociates
EP
USA
AC C
Neurosurgery Associates
https://www.facebook.com/uvaspinecenter/timeline
RI PT
2013
SC
UVA Orthopedic Spine Center
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
113
Private
IGEA Brain & Spine
2013
USA
111
Private
Wisconsin Neurosurgery SC
2014
USA
102
Private
Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery
2009
USA
100
Private
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wyoming-Spine-NeurosurgeryAssociates-LLC/158041680895565?sk=timeline
RI PT
2012
M AN U TE D EP AC C
https://www.facebook.com/IGEABrainSpine
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wisconsin-NeurosurgerySC/763806566991351?sk=timeline https://www.facebook.com/FrontRangeBrainSpine
SC
Wyoming Spine & Neurosurgery Associates LLC
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Supplementary Table 2. Most popular accounts of neurosurgical academic and private institutions on Twitter. Year
Country
Followers
Type
Link
San Diego Spine Disc
2009
USA
15200
Private
https://twitter.com/SanDiegoSpine
Capital Region Special Surgery
2014
USA
7650
Private
http://twitter.com/CRSpecialSurger
LaserSpineInstitute
2009
USA
4410
Private
https://twitter.com/LaserSpine
Neurospine Institute
2010
USA
3990
Private
https://twitter.com/NSInstitute
North American Spine
2009
USA
2222
Private
https://twitter.com/NASpine
The Utah Spine and Disc treatment
2010
USA
2017
Private
https://twitter.com/UtahSpineDisc
USC Neurosurgery
2012
USA
1705
Academic
https://twitter.com/NeurosurgeryUSC
UTHSCSA Neurosurgery
2009
USA
1655
Academic
https://twitter.com/uthscsaneuro
Resurgens Spine Center
2012
USA
1390
Private
https://twitter.com/ResurgensSpine
Mayfield Clinic
2009
USA
1385
Academic
https://twitter.com/MayfieldClinic
Spine Institute
2011
USA
1328
Private
https://twitter.com/spine_institute
Neurological Surgery, P.C.
2011
USA
1271
Private
https://twitter.com/NeuroSurgeryPC
2010
USA
1169
Private
https://twitter.com/SpineLaser
2010
USA
1160
Academic
https://twitter.com/UCSDNeuroSurg
2013
Canada
1144
Academic
https://twitter.com/UofTNeuroSurge
2011
USA
981
Private
https://twitter.com/Basic_Spine
2009
USA
970
Private
https://twitter.com/SpinePainBegone
2011
USA
949
Academic
https://twitter.com/MDABrainSpine
U of T Neurosurgery BASIC Spine Spine Pain Be Gone MDA Brain and Spine
SC
M AN U
TE D
EP
UCSD Neurosurgery
AC C
Houston’s Center for Laser Spine Surgery
RI PT
Name
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2014
USA
911
Private
https://twitter.com/MidwestSpineMN
Marina Spine Center
2013
USA
898
Private
https://twitter.com/MDRHSpineCenter
The Anand Spine Group
2010
USA
799
Private
https://twitter.com/InfoSpine
SpineOne
2011
USA
784
Private
https://twitter.com/SpineOneCO
Jagannathan Neurosurgical Institute
2013
USA
745
Private
https://twitter.com/MINeurosurgery
USC Neuro-Oncology
2012
USA
736
University of Minnesota's Neurosurgery Department
2013
USA
729
IGEA Brain & Spine
2011
USA
728
Private
https://twitter.com/IGEABrainSpine
The Bonati Spine Institute
2014
USA
675
Private
https://twitter.com/DrBonati
Shim Spine
2012
USA
661
Private
https://twitter.com/JohnHShimMD
Sea Spine Orthopedic
2012
USA
651
Private
https://twitter.com/seaspineortho
Florida Spine Specialists
2010
USA
609
Private
https://twitter.com/Flspine
Columbia University Medical Center
2009
USA
592
Academic
https://twitter.com/ColumbiaNeuro
Duke Neurosurgery
2014
USA
589
Academic
https://twitter.com/Dukeneurosurg
WCMC Brain and Spine
2012
USA
589
Academic
https://twitter.com/WCMCBrainSpine
2012
USA
539
Academic
https://twitter.com/UB_Neurosurgery
2010
USA
469
Private
https://twitter.com/BNAsurg
2011
USA
434
Private
http://twitter.com/SpineRevolution
2012
USA
420
Private
https://twitter.com/NJ_SPINE
2010
USA
413
Private
https://twitter.com/SpinecenterUSA
Boulder Neurosurgical & Spine Associates The Spine Institute New Jersey Spinal Medicine & Surgery. Spine Centers of America
SC
Academic
https://twitter.com/USCNeuroOnc
Academic
https://twitter.com/umnneurosurgery
M AN U
TE D
EP AC C
University at Buffalo Neurosurgery
RI PT
Midwest Spine & Brain Institute
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2011
USA
396
Private
https://twitter.com/YourSpineHealth
UMich Neurosurgery
2013
USA
355
Academic
https://twitter.com/umichneuro
DeukSpine
2010
USA
332
Private
https://twitter.com/DeukSpine10
Sonoran Spine
2013
USA
294
Private
https://twitter.com/SonoranSpine
UNC Neurosurgery
2013
USA
294
Academic
https://twitter.com/UNCneurosurgery
Spine Team Texas
2010
USA
254
Pinnacle Brain Spine
2011
USA
244
Western Neurosurgery
2013
Canada
230
Academic
https://twitter.com/westernu_nsx
Synergy Spine Center
2011
USA
218
Private
https://twitter.com/synergyspine
Dal Spine Program
2012
Canada
210
Academic
https://twitter.com/DalSpine
Microsurgical Spine Center
2013
USA
176
Private
https://twitter.com/MyBackMyLife
Metropolitan Neurosurgery, Inc.
2013
USA
164
Private
https://twitter.com/NJNeurosurgery
Midwest Neurosurgeons
2012
USA
156
Private
https://twitter.com/MidwestNeuro
The Neurosurgery Center of Colorado
2011
USA
153
Private
https://twitter.com/NeurosurgeryCO
New Jersey Spine Specialists
2013
USA
147
Private
https://twitter.com/spine_nj
2012
USA
145
Private
https://twitter.com/TexasBrainSpine
2011
USA
139
Private
https://twitter.com/MaineSpinecare
2009
USA
133
Private
https://twitter.com/brain_spine
2011
USA
130
Private
https://twitter.com/MichiganBrain
2013
USA
123
Private
https://twitter.com/panamacityortho
Maine Spinecare Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery Michigan Brain & Spine Surgery Center Panama City Spine
SC Private
https://twitter.com/SpineTeamTexas
Private
https://twitter.com/pbscmd
M AN U
TE D
EP AC C
North Texas Brain & Spine Institute
RI PT
Kraus Back & Neck
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
USA
108
Private
https://twitter.com/SpineInstitut
EP
TE D
M AN U
SC
RI PT
2011
AC C
NJ Spine Institute
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
RI PT
Supplementary Table 3. Accounts of neurosurgical journals on Facebook and Twitter.
Year
Country
Likes
Link
NEUROSURGERY Journal
2009
USA
15326
https://www.facebook.com/NeurosurgeryCNS
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
2010
UK
9091
https://www.facebook.com/JNNP.BMJ
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2012
USA
2795
Spine
2011
USA
Name
Year
Country
NEUROSURGERY Journal
2009
USA
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
2009
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry Spine
SC
Name
M AN U
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Journal-of-Neurosurgery-PublishingGroup/149829721737847
1233
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spine-An-International-Peer-ReviewedPeriodical/110235899067897?sk=timeline
Followers
Link
7350
https://twitter.com/NeurosurgeryCNS
USA
3825
https://twitter.com/thejns
2010
UK
3288
https://twitter.com/JNNP_BMJ
2011
USA
1408
https://twitter.com/SpineWebJournal
AC C
EP
TE D
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Year
Country
Followers
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2012
USA
9019
Scoliosis Research Society
2011
USA
4762
Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery
2011
Brazil
4577
Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
2011
USA
North American Spine Society (NASS)
2010
USA
EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe
2012
Euro
CSNS -Council of State Neurosurgical Societies
2008
USA
Association of Neurosurgical Physician Assistants
2014
Link
https://www.facebook.com/AANSNeuro
M AN U
Name
SC
RI PT
Supplementary Table 4. Accounts of neurosurgical professional associations and societies on Facebook and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/ScoliosisResearchSociety/timeline https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sociedade-Brasileira-deNeurocirurgia/169135703122913?sk=timeline https://www.facebook.com/cns.update
2661
https://www.facebook.com/NASS.Spine
1412
https://www.facebook.com/EUROSPINE
1105
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CSNS-Council-of-StateNeurosurgical-Societies/32125970850
TE D
3414
USA
299
https://www.facebook.com/neurosurgicalPA
USA
170
https://www.facebook.com/assfn.org/timeline
N/A
90
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-International-Society-forthe-Study-of-the-Lumbar-Spine/1396088907323562
Year
Country
Followers
Link
2010
USA
3690
https://twitter.com/nassspine
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons
2011
USA
3680
https://twitter.com/AANSNeuro
Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
2011
USA
2788
https://twitter.com/CNS_Update
Name North American Spine Society (NASS)
2014
AC C
2012
EP
American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2012
Euro
673
https://twitter.com/EuroSpineSoc
The International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine
2014
USA
90
https://twitter.com/ISSLS_Society
CSNS -Council of State Neurosurgical Societies
2011
USA
64
RI PT
EUROSPINE, the Spine Society of Europe
AC C
EP
TE D
M AN U
SC
https://twitter.com/councilsns
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
Year
subscribers
total views
Type
American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)
2011
6,988
877,278
Society
https://www.youtube.com/user/AANSNeurosurgery/about
MicroNeuroSurgeryOrg
2010
5,388
3,254,061
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/MicroNeuroSurgeryOrg/abou t
The Neurosurgical Atlas by Aaron Cohen-Gadol, M.D.
2007
2,972
334,404
NEUROSURGERY Journal
2009
2,804
Laser Spine Institute
2008
827
CDA Spine.
2008
641
NorthAmericanSpine
2009
545
Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF)
2014
533
Univ of Pittsburgh Neurosurgery
2010
351
Portland Neurosurgery
2012
Atlantic Spine Center
2013
USC neurosurgery Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Society
Link
https://www.youtube.com/user/acohenmd/about
Journal
https://www.youtube.com/user/NeurosurgeryCNS/about
494,231
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/LaserSpineInstitute/about
724,494
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/cdaspine/about
891,241
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/NorthAmericanSpine/about
16,870
Society
https://www.youtube.com/user/NREFvideos/about
41,621
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/neuroPitt/about
314
106,150
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/PortlandNeurosurgery/about
307
1,473,881
Private
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsPizUq7CQLVVjVpcX7NDw/about
EP
TE D
666,466
AC C
CNS Video Library
SC
Name
M AN U
RI PT
Supplementary Table 5. Most popular neurosurgical YouTube channels.
2011
292
16,961
Society
https://www.youtube.com/user/cnsvideolibrary/about
2011
259
102,571
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/uscneurosurgery/about
2014
181
1,100
Journal
https://www.youtube.com/user/JNNPBMJ/about
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
2011
141
14,900
Academic
Neurological Surgery, P.C.
2010
138
429,958
Private
https://www.youtube.com/user/NeurosurgeryLI/about
Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine
2010
134
63,045
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/CarolinaNeurosurgery/about
The Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center
2012
105
33,013
Academic
https://www.youtube.com/user/BrainSpineCenter/about
Deuk Spine Institute
2009
104
144,687
SC Private
M AN U TE D EP AC C
https://www.youtube.com/user/UCSFNeurosurgery/about
RI PT
UCSFNeurosurgery
https://www.youtube.com/user/deukspineinstitute/about