Tips and Pitfalls in Using Social Media Platforms for Survey Dissemination
Abstract
Introduction Social media has become a prevalent platform for survey dissemination, despite the paucity of
literature on this topic. The purpose of this paper is to outline the benefits and drawbacks of and best practices for
social media-based surveys.
Methods We performed a scoping review of this topic and explored different strategies commonly employed for
conducting efficient health care surveys via social media platforms.
Results The main advantages of social media-based surveys are the convenience and flexibility of survey design,
their relatively low cost, the anonymity of responders, and the ability to reach a broader population of responders
across geographical boundaries. Several measures can be adopted to avoid issues inherent in this approach, such
as data disruption and response duplication, as well as to enhance ethical behaviors and consent compliance. We
discuss limitations associated with unclear distribution of survey respondents and outline survey fraud as a major
impediment to the online propagation of surveys on various social media platforms.
Discussion The use of social media to disseminate surveys on various medical specialty topics has garnered
global participation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethical codes of conduct emphasize the need for
professionalism and truthfulness, and disclosure of potential conflicts of interest on the part of respondents, and
high-quality survey research on the part of researchers.
Conclusion We advocate for the novel use of social media to promote large and diverse health care surveys.
Additional studies should further explore the use of emerging social media platforms for survey dissemination and
their impact on health care research.
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