Social media remains widely and frequently used for radiology education, and most respondents consider it highly useful -- especially YouTube, according to survey results published April 15 in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.
The findings "highlight the importance of understanding which platforms different groups use so that educators can target content appropriately and underscore the need for periodic reassessment of social media in radiology education," wrote a team led by Lilly Kauffman of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
"Patterns of platform use have shifted, with emerging platforms beginning to play more prominent roles while some traditional platforms show declining use," the group noted.
Social media has "clearly permeated everyday life around the world, and its spread into the realm of radiology education is apparent," Kauffman and colleagues wrote. They sought to update a 2022 survey they conducted regarding social media usage in radiology education, distributing a 14-question SurveyMonkey survey to social media accounts and a newsletter subscriber list of more than 8,300 people between March and April 2025.
The team received 320 responses, of which 318 specified a role in medicine (160 physicians, 65 technologists, 63 residents or fellows, nine medical students, three nurses, one administrator, and 17 who identified as "other"). Of the total responders, 89.9% reported working primarily in radiology. Survey participants represented 73 countries, with the U.S. the most common (21.6%). Most respondents were between 25 years and 34 years of age (30.9%) and 80% reported using social media for radiology education "every day" or "a few times a week."
The group found the following:
- YouTube was the most frequently used platform (73.1%) and most preferred (37.2%), followed by Instagram (49.4% for use and 19.4% for preference) and Facebook (39.1% for use and 12.8% for preference).
- The most frequently stated goals for using social media included "to learn more in radiology" (84.4%) and "to keep updated on current events in radiology" (69.1%).
- Trainees had the highest daily use rates (69.4%), while clinical staff were the least frequent daily users of social media for radiology purposes (34.8%).
- Overall, 74.4% of survey respondents rated social media as "extremely" or "very" useful for radiology education, and 46.6% reported learning more from social media than from traditional resources.
When the team compared this survey data to data from a 2022 survey it conducted, use of YouTube rose by 7.1 percentage points.
"Our survey … shows that YouTube is a major player in the radiology community on social media, which is significant as it is a video-based platform," the group wrote.
Kauffman and colleagues acknowledged that selection bias was a key limitation to the study, since the survey reached respondents already engaged with social media. They plan to repeat the survey in coming years to track continued evolution in platform use.
"[Our] study … may help guide both established and potential educators in leveraging these platforms effectively," they concluded.
Access the full study here.
