ABSTRACT
Background: In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, major academic gastroenterology/hepatology conferences (American College of Gastroenterology–ACG, Digestive Diseases Weekly–DDW, The Liver Meeting–TLM, International Liver Congress-ILC, United European Gastroenterology Week-UEG) in 2020 have transitioned to virtual venues, using Twitter© to engage with attendees. The impact of virtual platforms on social media (SoMe) and dissemination of data remains unknown. Aim: To assess SoMe trends using conference-designated hashtags during virtual and in-person gastroenterology and hepatology conferences of ACG, DDW, TLM, ILC, and UEG in 2019 and 2020 Methods: Twitter© activity of hashtags (#ACG19, #ACG2020, #DDW19, #DDW2020, #Livermtg19, #TLMdX, #ILC2019, #ILC2020, #UEGweek) during the pre-defined confer-ence dates were assessed. Data were collected using Symplur Signals®, a social media healthcare analytic platform, accessed on 12/2/2020. Results: Of the 5 conferences in 2020, DDW was the only one without invited speaker sessions. In aggregate, an overall decline in Twitter© engagement was seen from 2019 to 2020, with 56% fewer original tweets (43,735 to 19,168), 54% fewer retweets (26,523 to 12,327), and 21% fewer impressions (176,748,242 to 140,209,657) associated with confer-ence-designated hashtags (Figure 1). Additionally, there were 46% fewer linked articles (6,341 to 3,404) and 58% fewer shared visuals (38,233 to 15,975). Interestingly, despite decreased tweets and retweets in individual conferences, hepatology conferences demon-strated an 87% increase (44,033,855 to 82,266,329) in impressions when moved to a virtual meeting. American-based conferences (DDW, ACG, TLM) had overall decreased Twitter© activity in 2020;European conferences (ILC, UEG) had a 16% increase (31,859,986 to 36,850,986) in impressions, with all other metrics decreasing. Trending disease topics in European hepatology conferences included “liver transplant” and “acute variceal bleeding” whereas American conferences referenced “lean NAFLD” and “alcohol-related liver disease”. Stakeholder analysis showed physicians (38% in 2019, 28% in 2020), advocacy groups (9%in 2019, 15% in 2020), and researchers (11% in 2019, 8% in 2020) were the most influential known users. In evaluation of daily engagement, virtual conferences (45%) showed an increase in tweets during the weekend compared to in-person conferences (42%). Conclusion: The transition to online platforms for academic gastroenterology/hepatology meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in decreased active participation in SoMe but an increased passive engagement noted in hepatology and European conferences in 2020, with a trend towards more activity on weekends in all conferences. These changes parallel significant shifts in people’s daily lives, as COVID-19 has dramatically altered the landscape of academic conferences.(figure presented)