From radiation beams to digital streams: social media engagement of German radiotherapy facilities.

Abstract

Purpose: Social media (SoMe) increasingly impacts communication in the healthcare sector. Despite its growing relevance, there is limited research on how these institutions utilize SoMe for their purposes. We conducted a descriptive analysis with the aim of evaluating the presence, frequency, and content focus of SoMe activities of German radiotherapy institutions.

Methods: The study analyzed SoMe activities of German radiotherapy institutions. Institutions were identified using selected keywords, and their presence on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook was recorded. The analysis assessed platform activity, posting frequency, content categories, and follower distribution, distinguishing between hospital and medical care center types, over a 6-month period. Contents were categorized into six themes, including clinical updates, research, events, job postings, education, and team news.

Results: The analysis showed that a total of 24% of German radiotherapy institutions had active social media profiles, with university and larger hospitals being more active than smaller practices or medical care centers (MVZ, medizinische Versorgungszentren). The majority of content focused on events and announcements (34%), followed by health awareness and education (19%), research findings (16%), and team news (15%). Job postings (8%) and clinical updates (7%) were less frequently shared. Instagram has the largest follower share (46%), but LinkedIn remains the most active platform, accounting for 86% of posts.

Conclusion: LinkedIn emerges as the leading platform for institutional presence, engagement, and content distribution, with a strong focus on events, scientific studies, and team news; while Instagram leads in follower count, LinkedIn dominates in posting activity.