Tweeting #PlasticSurgery - Plastic Surgeons Urged to Engage and Educate on Twitter

Newswise — November 29, 2016 – Twitter has become an important resource for people seeking information about plastic surgery. But only a small percentage of plastic surgery "tweets" consist of evidence-based information posted by credentialed plastic surgeons, according to a report in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

"Twitter provides a great opportunity to engage with and educate patients and the public about plastic surgery," comments Dr. Olivier Alexandre Branford of The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, lead author of the new article. "But all too often, the conversation is dominated by celebrity gossip and marketing by practitioners who aren't Board-certified plastic surgeons."

Call to Ensure Expert Plastic Surgery Information on Social MediaThe researchers analyzed the sources and types of information about plastic surgery available on Twitter—one of the world's most popular social media platforms. Of nearly 2,900 tweets including the words "plastic surgery," about 70 percent were posted by members of the public. Just six percent of plastic surgery tweets were actually made by plastic surgeons.

A large majority of the Twitter posts were about either celebrity plastic surgery (50 percent) or aesthetic surgery (44 percent). Few provided information about the basic science of plastic surgery, patient safety issues, or topics related to reconstructive surgery.

More than 60 percent of tweets by plastic surgeons also mentioned aesthetic surgery, while 7.5 percent mentioned celebrity plastic surgery. Posts by plastic surgeons were more likely to mention basic science: 14 percent. Several tweets by plastic surgeons mentioned scientific articles, although only a few included a link to the journal where the article was published.

About five percent of tweets included the #PlasticSurgery hashtag. A hashtag is a label using the pound or hash sign (#) that lets social media users search for messages on a specific topic. Nearly half of tweets tagged #Plastic Surgery were posted by plastic surgeons. A disappointingly high percentage of these posts (37 percent) were self-promotional, however.

"Social media sites are a potentially powerful vehicle of integrating and enhancing education, leading to a useful role in e-learning within plastic surgery," Dr. Branford and coauthors write. They believe that Twitter "may be the best-suited platform to fulfill the role of public education and engagement."

In a series of Twitter surveys, Dr. Branford found that the public wanted plastic surgeons to post about education, patient safety, and new research—not celebrities and self-promotion. The ASPS and its publications play a leading role in building an authoritative plastic surgery presence on Twitter, with accounts including @DrRodRohrich, @PRSjournal, @ASPS_News, and @ASPSMembers. The article includes links to several recent ASPS videos designed to help plastic surgeons build their social media presence.

"Board-certified plastic surgeons have a great opportunity to promote evidence-based plastic surgery practice via the hashtag #PlasticSurgery in the interests of supporting patients and the profession," the authors conclude. "As the only real plastic surgeons, we need to reclaim plastic surgery from the tabloid press, celebrity gossip and cosmetic quackery, in the interests of public safety and quality outcomes."

Dr. Branford encourages all qualified plastic surgeons to join the effort to claim the #Plastic Surgery hashtag on behalf of patients. He comments: "As a result of our work, the hashtag now has 2.4 billion views per year and is now consistently the most trending healthcare hashtag in the world, just after one year of promoting it."

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® is published by Wolters Kluwer.

Click here to read “#PlasticSurgery.”

Article: “#PlasticSurgery” (doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000002814)

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About Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeryFor more than 70 years, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® (http://www.prsjournal.com/) has been the one consistently excellent reference for every specialist who uses plastic surgery techniques or works in conjunction with a plastic surgeon. The official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® brings subscribers up-to-the-minute reports on the latest techniques and follow-up for all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery, including breast reconstruction, experimental studies, maxillofacial reconstruction, hand and microsurgery, burn repair, and cosmetic surgery, as well as news on medico-legal issues About ASPSThe American Society of Plastic Surgeons is the largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons in the world. Representing more than 7,000 physician members, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. About Wolters KluwerWolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.

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