Social Media Utilization at an Academic Radiology Practice

Rationale and Objectives We report social media (SoMe) utilization trends at an academic radiology department, highlighting differences between trainees and faculty and between Baby Boomers versus Generation X and Millennials. Materials and Methods An anonymous online survey regarding SoMe utilization and SoMe-based educational curriculum was distributed to all radiologists (trainees and faculty) in our department. Regular chi-square, ordered (Mantel-Haenszel) chi-square, and Fischer exact tests were performed. Results The survey instrument was sent to 172 radiologists with a 65% completion rate ( N  = 112). Eighty-three percent ( n  = 92) of the respondents use SoMe, with Facebook (67%, n  = 75), YouTube (57%, n  = 64), Instagram (26%, n  = 29), and Twitter (21%, n  = 23) as the most commonly used platforms. Eighty-one percent ( n  = 91) use SoMe for 30 minutes or less per day. Thirty-five percent ( n  = 39) reported previously using SoMe for educational purposes, although 66% ( n  = 73) would be willing to join SoMe for educational activities. The faculty are more likely than trainees to avoid using SoMe (30% vs 9%, P P P P  = 0.0001). Conclusions Generation gaps between trainees and faculty, as well as between Generation X and Millennials versus Baby Boomers, exist with regard to the use of SoMe, which may be underutilized in radiology education.