Barriers to professional social media use among medical laboratory scientists.

Abstract

Introduction: Medical laboratory science professionals face obstacles related to social media use. We aimed to identify social media trends among the medical laboratory science workforce and barriers to professional use.

Methods: A 23-item qualitative survey was administered to American Society for Clinical Pathology members, with data collected and managed using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tools. Statistical analysis was completed using Microsoft Excel and REDCap native functions. Entries that were not complete were excluded; pathologists and students were also excluded due to low response rates.

Results: Of the 238 participants who met inclusion criteria, 217 (91.2%) had at least 1 social media account. The most frequently cited uses were entertainment (60.8%) and socializing (50.2%), and the most common barriers to professional social media use were privacy concerns (48.9%) and limited time to dedicate to social media activities (48.5%). Among the 21 participants who did not participate in social media, 17 cited privacy concerns, 11 never considering joining, and 9 cited time concerns as barriers to creating social media accounts.

Discussion: Most medical laboratory scientists use social media for personal reasons, with major barriers to professional use being privacy concerns and limited time. Targeted initiatives may be useful for increasing professional social media use.