BLOG: Social media as a key to connection
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I often hear, “Hey, I know you from Twitter!” as I turn on my heels to identify the source. A variation of this exclamation has become commonplace at scientific conferences.
Particularly in a time characterized by so much distance, the use of social media can be helpful for connecting with new areas of scholarship, fellow scientists and the people most affected by the work we do.
As a cancer care delivery scientist, I find social media an invaluable source of information and connection with people living with cancer. Many patient-led organizations curate incredible content that benefits those of us connected to oncology to read and engage with. The substantial social media presence of patient-led organizations enables us to maintain a pulse on issues that matter to people living with cancer.
For me, social media connections with patient advocates have even led to patient-partnered research projects. Through social media, I could form connections with people I may have never encountered otherwise. These outlets provide an opportunity to expand who we know and remain grounded in what matters.
Beyond connection with people affected by cancer, social media also provides us with a unique opportunity to share our science. What better way to test our communication skills than to distill our main messages into 280 characters — including spaces! The inherent size constraints of apps like Twitter force us to be as concise and clear as possible to communicate important messages.
It also provides us an opportunity to spread our work beyond our peers to the broader public. Public science communication is an important way to democratize knowledge around cancer that can often remain in ivory towers. Often our peer-reviewed articles are hidden behind paywalls that are not always accessible to broad populations. By tweeting out the main messages of our work, we exponentially expand the number of people it would potentially reach. In an era where well-vetted information can be hard for the average person to discern, thoughtful public-facing communication from oncology professionals becomes even more important.
Beyond public communication, social media provides us as women professionals the opportunity to get our work seen by our peers. Research by Luc and colleagues has shown that articles shared on Twitter often have higher citation counts than those not disseminated broadly. Putting some thought into how you communicate your work beyond the peer-reviewed publication is one small way to increase the visibility of the great work being conducted by women.
Using social media in a professional capacity has a wide array of benefits for oncology professionals. In a time when many of our major convenings have gone hybrid or remote, it provides an opportunity to find and stay connected with both our peers and people affected by cancer.
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Mya L. Roberson, PhD, is assistant professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a member of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
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