Comprehensive analysis of Twitter usage during a major medical conference held virtually versus in-person

Bibliographic Details
Title: Comprehensive analysis of Twitter usage during a major medical conference held virtually versus in-person
Authors: Nedim Christoph Beste, Xue Davis, Roman Kloeckner, Erkan Celik, Michael Korenkov, David Maintz, Thomas Dratsch, Daniel Pinto dos Santos
Source: Insights into Imaging, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2022)
Publisher Information: SpringerOpen, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine
Subject Terms: Twitter, Social media, Medical conferences, RSNA, Science communication, Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine, R895-920
More Details: Abstract Background Twitter has become one of the most important social media platforms in science communication. During scientific conferences, Twitter can facilitate the communication between audience and speakers present at the venue and can extend the reach of a conference to participants following along from home. To examine whether Twitter activity can serve as a surrogate parameter for attendance at the RSNA conferences in 2019 and in 2020, and to characterize changes in topics discussed due to the virtual character of the 2020 RSNA conference. Methods The Twitter API and R Studio were used to analyze the absolute number and frequency of tweets, retweets, and conference-related hashtags during the 2019 and 2020 RSNA conference. Topics of discussion were compared across years by visualizing networks of co-occurring hashtags. Results There was a 46% decrease in total tweets and a 39% decrease in individual Twitter users in 2020, mirroring a 43% decrease in registered attendees during the virtual conference. Hashtags related to social initiatives in radiology (e.g., “#radxx” and “#womeninradiology” for promoting women’s empowerment in radiology or “#pinksocks,” “#weareradiology” and “#diversityisgenius” for diversity in general) were less frequently used in 2020 than in 2019. Conclusion Twitter and congress attendance were highly related and interpersonal topics underwent less discussion during the virtual meeting. Overall engagement during the virtual conference in 2020 was lower compared to the in-person conference in 2019.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1869-4101
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1869-4101
DOI: 10.1186/s13244-021-01140-0
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/1ba2f2023f8e4ca388429a188bd2c4f9
Accession Number: edsdoj.1ba2f2023f8e4ca388429a188bd2c4f9
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
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More Details
ISSN:18694101
DOI:10.1186/s13244-021-01140-0
Published in:Insights into Imaging
Language:English