Social Media Use Among Cardiothoracic Surgeons: The Online Landscape and Comparisons Between Subgroups

This study evaluated social media and online platform use among 223 randomly selected, actively practicing cardiothoracic surgeons from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Nearly all surgeons (99.6 percent) had a professional online presence, primarily through practice websites (99.6 percent), CTSNet (98.2 percent), LinkedIn (78.9 percent), and ResearchGate (57.4 percent). However, active engagement with general social media platforms was relatively low (42.6 percent), with X/Twitter being the most used (32.7 percent). No significant differences were observed in platform use across subspecialties, practice types, or training pathways. Notably, female surgeons and those practicing in the Southwest United States were more likely to use Facebook and Instagram. Early-career surgeons had higher overall online presence scores and were more active on X/Twitter, while mid-career surgeons favored LinkedIn. These findings highlight that while professional networking is nearly universal, broader social media engagement among cardiothoracic surgeons remains limited, offering opportunities for increased digital outreach and patient engagement.