What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets
Introduction: Twitter is growing in popularity and influence among emergency physicians (EP), with over 2200 self-identified EP users. As Twitter’s popularity has increased among EPs so too has its influence. While there has been debate about the value of Twitter as an effective educational delivery...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zh7g4j7 |
| _version_ | 1828266531476209664 |
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| author | Jeff Riddell Alisha Brown Lynne Robins Rafae Nauman Jeanette Yang Joshua Jauregui |
| author_facet | Jeff Riddell Alisha Brown Lynne Robins Rafae Nauman Jeanette Yang Joshua Jauregui |
| author_sort | Jeff Riddell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Twitter is growing in popularity and influence among emergency physicians (EP), with over 2200 self-identified EP users. As Twitter’s popularity has increased among EPs so too has its influence. While there has been debate about the value of Twitter as an effective educational delivery tool, little attention has been paid to the nature of the conversation occurring on Twitter. We aim to describe how influential EPs use Twitter by characterizing the language, purpose, frequencies, content, and degree of engagement of their tweets. Methods: We performed a mixed-methods analysis following a combined content analysis approach. We conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses of a sample of tweets from the 61 most influential EPs on Twitter. We present descriptive tweet characteristics and noteworthy themes. Results: We analyzed 1375 unique tweets from 57 unique users, representing 93% of the influential Twitter EPs. A majority of tweets (1104/1375, 80%) elicited some response in the form of retweets, likes, or replies, demonstrating community engagement. The qualitative analysis identified 15 distinct categories of tweets. Conclusion: Influential EPs on Twitter were engaged in largely medical conversations in which most messages generated some form of interaction. They shared resources and opinions while also building social rapport in a community of practice. This data can help EPs make informed decisions about social media engagement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:53:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4e7b4968f584a3983bd071ab3deccf5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1936-9018 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:53:56Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | eScholarship Publishing, University of California |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4e7b4968f584a3983bd071ab3deccf52022-12-22T03:01:34ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaWestern Journal of Emergency Medicine1936-90182019-12-0121110.5811/westjem.2019.10.44004wjem-21-26What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ TweetsJeff Riddell0Alisha Brown1Lynne Robins2Rafae Nauman3Jeanette Yang4Joshua Jauregui5University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Los Angeles, CaliforniaUniversity of Washington, Department of Emergency Medicine, Seattle, WashingtonUniversity of Washington, Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, Seattle, WashingtonUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine, Las Vegas, NevadaUniversity of Washington, Department of Surgery-Surgical Outcomes Research Center, Seattle, WashingtonUniversity of Washington, Department of Emergency Medicine, Seattle, WashingtonIntroduction: Twitter is growing in popularity and influence among emergency physicians (EP), with over 2200 self-identified EP users. As Twitter’s popularity has increased among EPs so too has its influence. While there has been debate about the value of Twitter as an effective educational delivery tool, little attention has been paid to the nature of the conversation occurring on Twitter. We aim to describe how influential EPs use Twitter by characterizing the language, purpose, frequencies, content, and degree of engagement of their tweets. Methods: We performed a mixed-methods analysis following a combined content analysis approach. We conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses of a sample of tweets from the 61 most influential EPs on Twitter. We present descriptive tweet characteristics and noteworthy themes. Results: We analyzed 1375 unique tweets from 57 unique users, representing 93% of the influential Twitter EPs. A majority of tweets (1104/1375, 80%) elicited some response in the form of retweets, likes, or replies, demonstrating community engagement. The qualitative analysis identified 15 distinct categories of tweets. Conclusion: Influential EPs on Twitter were engaged in largely medical conversations in which most messages generated some form of interaction. They shared resources and opinions while also building social rapport in a community of practice. This data can help EPs make informed decisions about social media engagement.https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zh7g4j7 |
| spellingShingle | Jeff Riddell Alisha Brown Lynne Robins Rafae Nauman Jeanette Yang Joshua Jauregui What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| title | What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets |
| title_full | What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets |
| title_fullStr | What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets |
| title_full_unstemmed | What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets |
| title_short | What’s All the Chatter? A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Emergency Physicians’ Tweets |
| title_sort | what s all the chatter a mixed methods analysis of emergency physicians tweets |
| url | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zh7g4j7 |
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