Social media in critical care: Fad or a new standard in medical education? An analysis of international critical care conferences between 2014 and 2017

Abstract

Medical conference organisers have increasingly used social media to improve interaction and learning amongst healthcare professionals. Despite the increasing use of Twitter at critical care conferences, there remains considerable debate as to its impact and ability to generate meaningful discussions beyond the duration of the conference itself. We aim to analyse the trend in Twitter use at international critical care conferences between 2014 and 2017. Fifteen major, international critical care conferences were identified spanning 2014–2017. They represented the annual congresses of the leading critical care professional societies including the first critical care conference to incorporate social media, Social Media and Critical Care. There has been an increased utilisation of social media at all the conferences analysed. This is reflected both in the number of users and the number of tweets. Tweets from the official conference twitter account contribute only a small proportion to the overall number with the exception of the International Fluid Academy. The potential benefits of social media have resulted in a sustained increased in its use at critical care conference between 2014 and 2017. Our analysis provides a better understanding on the use of social media at critical care conference. Further studies are needed to ascertain if this increase in use translates to enhance learning and patient care amongst colleagues.