Rob Volansky , 2025-05-19 09:30:00
Despite its pitfalls, social media use can offer some surprising benefits for rheumatologists, according to a presenter at the Biologic Therapies Summit.
“‘Dumpster fire’ is a term people throw out a lot when they talk about social media,” Adam J. Brown, MD, of the department of rheumatologic and immunologic disease at the Cleveland Clinic, told attendees.
Platforms like Facebook, X and TikTok can have a “negative impact” on people’s social well-being and demonstrate “a lot of clear negatives,” according to Brown.
“It breeds horrible things sometimes,” he said.
However, this should not entirely deter health care professionals from engaging with them, as there are also benefits to be reaped, Brown added.
The first potential benefit, according to Brown, is the potential to combat some of the misinformation that is rampant on social media. As an example of such misinformation, he cited reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her promotion of a full-body MRI as a worthwhile health intervention with no further information about the reason, cost or potential risks and benefits.
“There are no barriers to her writing this,” Brown said. “Most posts are about the benefits of certain interventions and posted by whoever wants to post, while very few posts talk about the harms of those interventions.”
The result is that patients may come into the clinic advocating for that intervention for themselves, with little substantive information about it.
“You can see how things can go badly very, very quickly, with people spreading information when they don’t know what they are talking about,” Brown said.
This is where it can be useful for the provider to engage in social media, according to Brown.
“Patients are using social media for health care information,” he said. “They think they have a certain condition or will have some horrible side effect that they saw on social media. You can get a pulse on what is being talked about and can stay ahead of it.”
Social media can also assist health care professionals seeking to navigate the flood of credible information emerging each day, Brown added.
According to Brown, there are more than 30,000 scientific journals overall, with two articles published online every minute. The rate of these publications is increasing by close to 10% each year, while PubMed logs more than 3 billion searches per year.
“It is harder and harder to follow,” Brown said. “Social media has become very useful in sorting through all of that information.”
Curators of information — including physicians, researchers and other experts in the field — regularly comb through the journals and highlight the most clinically relevant data and post it online, he added.
“Medical conferences can be followed,” Brown said. “Online quizzes and tutorials are available.”
Social media platforms have also given rise to online journal clubs, where trainees and long-time professionals alike can post pictures or discuss cases, according to Brown.
“You can get different ideas on how to do a workup or how to treat a patient,” he said.
“Find a social media platform that is right for you,” Brown added. “If it is used right, it can be extremely helpful.”
Sources/Disclosures
Collapse
Brown A. The highs and lows of social media in rheumatology. Presented at: Biologic Therapies Summit XI; May 9-10, 2025 (hybrid meeting).
Disclosures:
Brown reports consulting for Amgen and teaching and speaking for Chemocentryx and Sanofi.
