Contemporary use of social media by consultant colorectal surgeons

Aim There is evidence of significant growth in the engagement of UK health‐care professionals with ‘open’ social media platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Social media communication provides many opportunities and benefits for medical education and interaction with patients and colleagues. This study was undertaken to evaluate the uptake of public social media membership and the characteristics of use of such media channels amongst contemporary UK consultant colorectal surgeons. Method Colorectal surgeons were identified from the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI) national registry of colorectal mortality outcomes and were cross‐referenced with the General Medical Council (GMC) register. Individuals were identified by manual searching on a number of social media platforms. Matching accounts were then examined to confirm ownership and to evaluate key markers of use. Results Six‐hundred and eighteen individual consultant colorectal surgeons from 142 health authorities were studied (79.5% were ACPGBI members and 90.8% were male). Two‐hundred and twenty‐nine (37.1%) had LinkedIn profiles (37.7% male surgeons, 29.8% female surgeons; P = 0.2530). LinkedIn membership was significantly higher in ACPGBI members (P