O-088 Social Networks (SNs) in reproductive medicine: the experience of the 5 Young ESHRE Ambassadors 2022 (5YEA)
Authors: Anastasi A , Einenkel R , Gazzo I , Makwana P , Penna T 
Published: June 2023

Study question

The 5YEA, experienced how SN can promote dissemination of evidence based scientific education and counter misinformation for both scientific community and general public.

Summary answer

An incorrect use of SNs can lead to the massive dissemination of incorrect information but if used correctly they can help scientists, patients and general-public.

What is known already

SNs have proved to be a very powerful weapon. SNs are applications available on the Internet, a global computer network that uses the Web as a service to navigate through documents. Their rise, in conjunction with the development of mobile phones, has affected all professional sectors, including the scientific community.

Social networks have multiple uses from facilitating scientists to communicate and make their research more accessible, to healthcare professionals generating interest and helping the general public be more aware about their health & wellbeing, all this while countering the the uncontrolled dissemination of misinformation.

Study design, size, duration

From ESHRE annual meeting 2022, the 5YEA shared scientific messages and personal considerations on research and topics presented at the meeting. Through the various SNs(mainly Twitter-Instagram-Facebook-LinkedIn) they have directed many participants to follow the topics from the comfort of their homes and, generating curiosity for people even outside the scientific community. Even today, the topics shared on SNs are followed by users both from the scientific world and from the whole social world.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

The 5YEA actively participated during the 5 days of the annual meeting. The sharing of their messages on the SN involved thousands of registered users across various platforms. The conspicuous increase in the number of users who have begun to follow them has allowed us to express the considerations of this abstract.

Main results and the role of chance

Scientific integrity, defined in particular by the methodological rigor and honesty of the researcher, is essential for the validation of his work by the scientific community. SNs, accessible to research professionals, on the one hand, and to the general public, on the other, have given specialists a voice to raise awareness of scientific integrity in these two populations. SNs are also a forum for discussing methodological weaknesses or distorted results of some studies. But they are also an educational tool to educate their readers about scientific fraud.

SNs has increased the massive diffusion of fake news. Raising scientists' awareness of the use of these powerful communication tools seems to be a necessity, as these tools can interfere with the visibility of their research work but also, sometimes even, with their private life.

Today on SNs there is therefore a struggle going on, difficult to ignore, which questions the credibility of scientific discourse and its integrity and for which very few researchers are prepared. It is a fight for which it is necessary to attract the attention of all generations of scientists. This fight must not be lost to restore and preserve the still fragile trust between science and society.

Limitations, reasons for caution

New SN platforms are born every day. Some are reserved to scientific professionals (high scientific rigor), others not (general public creates confusion by indulging in inappropriate comments). Given limitations to text length, information is always condensed, while users are pushed to share information frequently to get a greater reach.

Wider implications of the findings

With all the emerging and sometimes misinformed discussions taking place on social media, experts should spend more time clarifying them. However, the quantification and corresponding appreciation of this work is currently lacking.

Trial registration number

not applicable