LAUSR

BACKGROUND and Purpose: Twitter is an increasingly popular social media platform among the health care community. The objective of this analysis is to characterize the profile of radiation oncology-related Tweets and Twitter users over the past 6 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS Using the web-based social media analytics platform, Symplur Signals, we filtered Tweets containing at least one of the following hashtags or key words: #radonc, #radiationoncology, "rad onc," or "radiation oncology." We evaluated radiation oncology-related Twitter activity occurring from October 2014 through March 2020 for Tweet frequency, Tweet content, and the individuals or groups posting Tweets. We identified the most influential Twitter users contributing radiation oncology-related Tweets. RESULTS From 2014 to 2020, the quarterly volume of radiation oncology-related Tweets increased from 5,027 to 29,763. Physicians contributed the largest growth in Tweet volume. Academic radiation oncologists comprise 60% of the most influential Twitter accounts responsible for radiation oncology-related content. The number of radiation oncology resident physicians on Twitter increased from 25 to 328 over the past 6 years. 20% of radiation oncology residency programs have a Twitter account. 71% of radiation oncology-related Tweets generated direct communication via mentions. 59% of Tweets contain links to external sources including scientific articles. CONCLUSIONS The number of physicians contributing radiation oncology-related Twitter content has increased significantly in recent years. Academic radiation oncologists are the primary influencers of radiation oncology-related Twitter activity. Twitter is used by radiation oncologists both to professionally network and to discuss findings related to the field. There remains the opportunity for radiation oncologists to broaden their audience on Twitter to encompass a more diverse community including patients.