Instagram Outperforms Twitter in Driving Social Media Engagement Among Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeons

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the content posted by sports medicine orthopaedic surgeons on Instagram and Twitter and to evaluate the associated engagement. Methods: Data were collected from sports medicine orthopaedic surgeons’ Instagram profiles and Twitter profiles between December 2020 and June 2022. The median number of total number of likes, comments, and retweets was calculated. The content of posts from both platforms was divided into the following categories: personal life, research, patient testimony, day in the life, pathway to becoming a physician, clinical cases, medical facts, and team coverage. Results: Data from 71 Instagram profiles and 39 Twitter profiles were used in this study. A total of 1,193 posts were identified on Instagram and 1,284 posts were identified on Twitter. The personal life category had the greatest number of posts on Instagram (303, 25.4%), whereas the medical facts category had the greatest number of posts on Twitter (251, 19.5%). Pathway to becoming a physician had the greatest median number of likes on both Instagram (97.5, range 48-2,467) and Twitter (19, range 0-50) and the greatest median number of comments on Instagram at 16 (range 1-203). The team coverage category on Instagram had the greatest percentage of likes per follower at 9.9%. A significantly greater percentage of orthopaedic surgeons posted about day in the life content, medical facts, and research on Twitter in comparison with Instagram. Instagram resulted in significantly more social media engagement than Twitter in all 8 categories (P < .05). Conclusions: Instagram resulted in significantly more social media engagement across all categories in comparison with Twitter with team coverage, personal life, and pathway to becoming a physician being the most popular categories. Clinical Relevance: The information learned in this study may help sports surgeons understand how they may best utilize social media to engage with others and enhance their clinical practice.