BENCHMARKING TWITTER HASHTAG USAGE AT MEDICAL CONFERENCESS Palmisano, A Miller, T Parker, P Farmer

MedThink SciCom, Inc, Raleigh, NC

INTRODUCTION• Twitterisamicrobloggingsocialnetworkservicewithapproximately175millionregisteredusers

– Itisavailableinover20differentlanguagesandcanbeaccessedonmostinternetcompatibledevices(eg,computers,smartphones,tablets)

– Itprovidesreal-timeinformationandopinionsregardingtopicsofinterestdefinedbytheusers

– Usersspecifythetopicsorpeopleaboutwhichtheywishtoreceiveinformationbyelectingto“follow”them

• Atmedicalconferences,useofTwitterhashtagsprovidesanavenueforattendeestofollowconferencenewsandcommentary

• MedicalprofessionalsattendingconferencesmayuseTwitterto– Disseminatehigh-valuedatatocolleaguesinreal-time

– Notifycolleaguesaboutinterestingpresentationsattheconference

– Discoverandinteractwithcolleagueswhohavesimilarinterests

– Commendcolleaguesbytweetingorretweetingabouttheirwork

– Evaluatetheacceptanceorpopularityofdataorconclusions

• Consideringthewaysinwhichcommunicationofscientificinformationisevolving,itisincumbentuponmedicalpublicationprofessionalstobeawareofhowsocialmediachannelsareaffectingthepublicationlandscape

• AlthoughTwitterhasincreasedinpopularityovertime,theuseofTwitterhashtagsatmedicalconferenceshasnotbeeninvestigated

OBJECTIVES• Toevaluatetheuseofconference-associatedTwitterhashtagsatmedicalconferences,therebyprovidinga

benchmarkforfutureassessmentsofTwitterusage

METHODS • ConferenceAuthority(Sylogent,Newtown,PA)wasusedtoidentifythetopglobalmedicalconferences(by

attendance)in2011for4majortherapeuticspecialities(ie,oncology/hematology,cardiology/vasculardiseases,gastroenterology/hepatology,andgeneralmedicine)

• Hashtagsforeachconferencewereidentified– Hashtagswereunavailablefor2ofthemajormedicalconferences(ie,JapaneseCirculationSocietyandPrimaryCareConference).Therefore,inclusionwasexpandedintheareasofcardiology/vasculardiseasesandgeneralmedicinesothatallspecialityareascontained5conferencesthatusedconference-associatedhashtags

• Twitteractivity(ie,thenumberoftweetsassociatedwithaconference-specifichashtag)wasassessedforthedurationofeachconferenceusingRadian6(Salesforce.com,SanFrancisco,CA)

• Tweetandretweetvolumeandtotalreach(ie,numberofpeoplewhoreceivedtweetsorretweets)wererecorded

RESULTS• 91%ofthe“top”medicalconferencesinitiallyidentifiedwithConferenceAuthorityhadTwitterhashtags(Table)

• Forthetop5conferenceswithconference-specificTwitterhashtagsineachspecialityarea,Twittervolumewasgreatestfortheoncology/hematologyfield(Figure1)

• Oncology/Hematologyconferenceshadatleast4timesasmanytweetsperattendee(mean,1tweetper7attendees)thanotherspecialityconferences

– AmericanAssociationforCancerResearch(1tweetper4attendees),AmericanHeartAssociation(1tweetper14attendees),DigestiveDiseaseWeek(1tweetper16attendees),andAmericanAcademyofPhysicianAssistants(1tweetper12attendees)hadthegreatestmeannumberofhashtag-associatedtweetsperconferenceattendeeattheoncology/hematology,cardiology/vasculardiseases,gastroenterology/hepatology,andgeneralmedicineconferences,respectively

• ConferencesintheUnitedStateshadagreatermeannumberofhashtag-associatedtweetsthanconferencesoutsideoftheUnitedStates(1457.3vs515.2,respectively)

• Overall,retweetsaccountedforonly30%oftotalhashtag-associatedtweetvolumeatmedicalconferences– Oncology/Hematology(37%)andcardiology/vasculardiseases(33%)conferenceshadagreaterpercentageofretweetsthangeneralmedicine(27%)andgastroenterology/hepatology(24%)conferences

• Totalreach(ie,thenumberofTwitteruserswhoreceivedaconference-specifichashtag-associatedtweetorretweet)wasgreatestforoncology/hematologyandcardiology/vasculardiseasesconferences(Figure2)

• Conferenceattendanceandtotalreachwerenotlinearlyassociatedoverall(R ² =0.4463;Figure3A)

• Alinearrelationshipbetweentotalreachandconferenceattendancewasobservedforoncology/hematologyconferences(R ²=0.8622;Figure3B)butnotforcardiology/vasculardiseases(R ²=0.2211),gastroenterology/hepatology(R ²=0.3217),orgeneralmedicine(R ²=0.523)conferences

– Thecorrelationbetweentotalreachandconferenceattendanceobservedinoncology/hematologyconferencesmaybeattributabletotherapidexchangeofinformationgenerallyseeninthisspecialityarea

CONCLUSIONS• Twitterisrecognizedasauniqueandvaluabletoolbyconferenceattendees

• Theutilityofhashtag-associatedtweetsmayvarywiththerapeuticspeciality(egoncology/hematology),andtheremaybegreateradoptionofTwitterbyconferencesheldwithintheUS(ie,thebirthplaceofTwitter)

• Conferenceattendancewasnotpredictiveofconference-associatedtweeting,suggestingthatotherfactors,suchasadvocacygroupinterestandtendencytowardrapiddisseminationofdata(bothattributesoftheoncologyfield),mayofferpredictivevalue

• Themajorityofhashtag-associatedtweetswereoriginal(ie,notretweets),implyingthatdiscussionandinteraction,notjustdisseminationofinformation,occursatmedicalconferences

ABSTRACTObjective: ThemicrobloggingserviceTwitterusesahashtagtomarkkeywordsortopicsinatweet.HashtagstraditionallyareutilizedatmedicalconferencestoallowTwitteruserstofollowconferencenewsandcommentary.Nobenchmarks,standards,or“amplificationfactor”existfortheuseofhashtagsatmedicalconferences.ThisanalysisintendstobenchmarktheuseofTwitterhashtagsatmedicalconferencestofacilitatefuturecomparisons.

Research design and methods: ConferenceAuthority(Sylogent,Newtown,PA)wasusedtoidentifythetopmedicalconferencesbyattendancein2011for4majortherapeuticcategories(generalmedicine,oncology,gastroenterology,andcardiology).TwitteractivityforthedurationofeachconferencewasassessedusingRadian6(Salesforce.com,SanFrancisco,CA);tweet/retweetvolumeandtotalreachwererecorded.

Results:Hashtagswereutilizedat90%ofthemedicalconferences.Forthetop5conferenceswithhashtags,hashtagusagewashighestforoncology(mean,3279vs758forcardiology,331forgastroenterology,and329forgeneralmedicine).Retweetsaccountedforapproximately30%ofhashtagvolume,extendingthereachoftheinitialcommunication.ConferencesintheUnitedStateshadgreaterhashtagvolume(mean,1457)thannon-USconferences(mean,515).Inoncology,alinearrelationshipbetweenhashtagvolumeandconferenceattendancewasobserved(R ²=0.86).

Conclusions:Ofthe4therapeuticcategoriesanalyzed,oncologyconferenceshadthegreatesttotalhashtagvolume,potentiallyincreasingaudiencereachandprovidingvaluableinformationforpublicationprofessionals.FutureanalyseswillassesschangesinTwitterusageandexaminepracticalapplicationsforpublicationprofessionals.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLICATION PROFESSIONALS• Twitterisrecognizedbymedicalconferencesasanimportantmeansofdisseminatinginformationandis

beingusedbyconferenceattendeestoengageindiscussions;thus,monitoringTwitteractivitymayprovidemedicalpublicationprofessionalswithuniqueinsightsincluding

– Suggestionoftopicsthatshouldbeaddressedmorefullyinasubsequentpublication(eg,safetyconcerns)

– Areasforfutureanalyses

– Identificationofmedicalprofessionalswithaninterestorexpertiseinaspecificarea

• FutureanalysesshouldassesschangesinTwitterusageandexaminepracticalapplicationsforpublicationprofessionals(eg,useasametricforassessmentofdatadissemination)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSTheauthorsareemployeesofMedThinkSciCom,Inc,andhavenofinancialinterestsintheoutcomeofthestudy.Allauthorscontributedtotheresearchandwritingoftheposter.AdditionalcontributorsincludedGinnyBolandforresearchdesignandimplementationandJillianGeeforwritingexpertise.TheauthorswouldliketothankChristinaCartwrightforeditorialsupportandLoftinBarnesforassistanceinthepreparationofthepostergraphics.

Datahavebeenrevisedsincetheabstractwassubmitted.

Table. MajorConferencesIdentifiedbySpeciality

Field ConferenceConference attendees in

2011, nConference-associated

hashtag

Oncology/Hematology ASCO

ASH

AACR

ECCO/ESMOa

ASTRO

32,500

18,000

17,500

15,000

11,500

#ASCO11

#ASH11

#AACR

#emcc2011

#ASTRO11

Cardiology/Vasculardiseases ESCa

AHA

ACC

JCSa

HRS

EuroPCRa

32,500

23,500

20,000

17,850

13,500

12,750

#ESCparis2011

#AHA11

#ACC11

None

#HRS2011

#insidepcr

Gastroenterology/Hepatology DDW

UEGWa

EASLa

AASLD

ACG

16,50014,000

8250

8000

4500

#DDW11

#UEGW

#ILC11

#LiverMeeting

#acg2011

Generalmedicine OMED

ACP

AAPA

PCCa

NMA

WoncaEuropea

10,000

9500

9000

5000-6000

4500

3750

#OMED2011

#im11

#AAPAImpact

None

#nma2011

#WONCA

AACR,AmericanAssociationforCancerResearch;AAPA,AmericanAcademyofPhysicianAssistants;AASLD,AmericanAssociationfortheStudyofLiverDiseases;ACC,AmericanCollegeofCardiology;ACG,AmericanCollegeofGastroenterology;ACP,AmericanCollegeofPhysicians;AHA,AmericanHeartAssociation;ASCO,AmericanSocietyofClinicalOncology;ASH,AmericanSocietyofHematology;ASTRO,AmericanSocietyforRadiationOncology;DDW,DigestiveDiseaseWeek;EASL,EuropeanAssociationfortheStudyoftheLiver;ECCO/ESMO,EuropeanCancerOrganisation/EuropeanSocietyforMedicalOncology;ESC,EuropeanSocietyofCardiology;EuroPCR,EuropeanAssociationofPercutaneousCardiovascularIntervention;HRS,HeartRhythmSociety;JCS,JapaneseCirculationSociety;NMA,NationalMedicalAssociation;OMED,OsteopathicMedicalConference&Exposition;PCC,PrimaryCareConference;UEGW,UnitedEuropeanGastroenterologyFederation;WoncaEurope,WorldOrganizationofNationalColleges,AcademiesandAcademicAssociationsofGeneralPractitioners/FamilyPhysicians,Europeanbranch.aInternationalconference.

Figure 3. Relationshipbetweenconferenceattendanceandtotalhashtag-associatedtweetreachfrom(A)allmedicalconferencesevaluated(N=20)and(B)oncologyconferences(n=5).AACR,AmericanAssociationforCancerResearch;ASCO,AmericanSocietyofClinicalOncology;ASH,AmericanSocietyofHematology;ASTRO,AmericanSocietyforRadiationOncology;ECCO/ESMO,EuropeanCancerOrganisation/EuropeanSocietyforMedicalOncology.

35

A

30 R 2=0.4463

25

Atte

ndan

ce, t

hous

ands

20

15

10

5

00 2 4 6 8

Total reach, millions

10 12 14 16

35

B

30 R 2=0.8622

ASTRO

ECCO/ESMO

ASHAACR

ASCO

25

Atte

ndan

ce, t

hous

ands

20

15

10

5

00 2 4 6 8

Total reach, millions

10 12 14 16

POSTER NUMBER

25

Scan with QR code reader to obtain a PDF of this poster and hear more from one of the authors.

Figure 1. Overalltweetvolumebyconferencespeciality.

3500 3280

758

331 329

3000

2500

Hash

tag-

asso

ciat

ed tw

eets

,m

ean,

n 2000

1500

1000

500

Oncology/Hematology

(n=5)

Cardiology/Vascular diseases

(n=5)

Gastroenterology/Hepatology

(n=5)

Generalmedicine

(n=5)

0

Doesincreasedtweetvolumesuggestamorerapiddisseminationmindset?

Figure 2. TotalnumberofTwitteruserswhoreceivedaconference-associatedtweetdirectlyorthroughretweeting(ie,totalreach)byconferencespeciality.

7

5.9

3.2

0.3 0.3

6

5

Tota

l rea

ch, m

ean,

mill

ions

4

3

2

1

Oncology/Hematology

(n=5)

Cardiology/Vascular diseases

(n=5)

Gastroenterology/Hepatology

(n=5)

Generalmedicine

(n=5)

0

Whywouldoncology/hematologyandcardiology/vasculardiseasesattendeesappeartobemoreengaged?

8th Annual Meeting of ISMPP • April 23-25, 2012 • Baltimore, MD