Perception about social media use by rheumatology journals: Survey among the attendees of IRACON 2019

Abstract

Background: Rheumatology journals are exploring social media presence, though currently less than a third have dedicated social media editors. Methods: A survey was conducted among the attendees of the Indian Rheumatology Association annual meet 2019 held at Puducherry, to assess the attitudes and perceptions of a target audience. Results: There were 111 respondents, 90 practicing rheumatology and 21 from allied fields. Around threequarters (76.6%) have never subscribed to hard copies of any journal and 65% followed at least one medical journal on at least one social media platform; 87% preferred visual cues for learning and 95% felt the need for visual abstracts to promote articles on social media. Two-thirds (64%) felt that Altmetrics® might reflect the impact of an article better than the number of times it is cited. Conclusion: Thus, the survey strengthened the felt need of rheumatology journals to have a presence on the social media. This presence ought to be supported by a strategy, including the active use of visual abstracts.