Social media and clinical trials

Social media are platforms for electronic communication, such as social networking and microblogging. These applications facilitate online communities to share information and ideas. The most popular social media platforms in the world include Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, and Tiktok. Social media affords unprecedented opportunities for building patients and physician communities and sharing medical information, both within and outside these new communities. Community building through social media occurs in three spheres: physicians, patients/advocates, and physicians + patients together.