INFLUENCERS IN MEDICINE
Digital Health Information and the Rise of the Medical Influencer
In 2004 , I was in my college apartment , and I received an email from an old friend whom I hadn ’ t heard from in years . It was an invitation to create an account on a website called The Facebook . I only entertained the idea because I hadn ’ t heard from her in so long , and I was curious to see where she was and what she was doing , so I signed up . Almost 15 years later I attended the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition where I participated in a session about physicians using social media . We discussed why some choose to do it , how to use it and use it safely . After that , I made my first professional social media account on Twitter . Eventually , I would create professional accounts on Instagram and TikTok as well . I have found them to be unique , interesting and creative tools to use to communicate health information to lots of people at once .
Social media is big and here to stay
First , what is social media , and what other definitions are important to know when discussing this topic ? It may seem obvious , especially to younger generations of physicians , but the term is constantly changing . Social media generally refers to internet-based tools that allow individuals to communicate , share information , ideas , images ,
8 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE by HEATHER FELTON , MD
videos and collaborate with other users . 1 Over 4 billion people were using social media worldwide in 2021 , which is estimated to grow to 6 billion by 2027 . 2 Over half of the world ’ s population spends about 2½ hours on social media each day . That is 15 % of waking hours spent on social media . Social media allows users to search , interact and find a community . Some social media sites like Facebook , Instagram and TikTok use an algorithm . The algorithm uses data from how the user is interacting with the site to determine what other media is shown to that user . 3 There are many social media platforms , and too many to cover completely here . Here are the most popular currently :
» Facebook allows users to share and interact with a variety of content .
» Twitter allows users to share 140-character posts with their followers . ( Free , but may change with Elon Musk .)
» Instagram is a photo or image-sharing application . » LinkedIn is a professional social networking site .
» Doximity is similar to LinkedIn but is exclusive to physicians .
» TikTok is one of the fasting-growing social media platforms of all time , is very popular with Gen Z and loops videos up to three minutes long with the opportunity to use sound