Online and social media presence of Australian and New Zealand urologists

Objective To assess the online and social media presence of all practising Australian and New Zealand urologists. Subjects and Methods In July 2014, all active members of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ) were identified. A comprehensive search of Google and each social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and You Tube) was undertaken for each urologist to identify any private websites or social media profiles. Results Of the 435 urologists currently practising in Australia and New Zealand, 305 (70.1%) have an easily identifiable social media account. Linkedln (51.3%) is the most commonly used form of social media followed by Twitter (33.3%) and private Facebook (30.1%) accounts. About half (49.8%) have a private business website. The average numb: of social media accounts per urologist is 1.42 and 16 urologists (3.7%) have an account with all searched social media platforms. Over half of those with a Twitter account (55.9%) follow a dedicated urology journal club and have a median (range) number of 'followers' of 12 (1-2 862). Social media users had a median (range) of 2 (0-8 717) 'tweets' on Twitter, 2 (1-45) Linkedln posts and 1 (1-14) YouTube video. Conclusion This study represents a unique dataset not relying on selection or recall bias but using data freely available to patients and colleagues to gauge social media presence of urologists. Most Australian and New Zealand urologists have a readily identifiable online and social media presence, with wideq)read and consistent use across both countries,