Social media for pediatric research: what, who, why, and #?

In the age of Facebook congressional hearings and “Twitter diplomacy,” the impact of social media on society is difficult to ignore. Although social media isn’t new and its role in health care continues to grow, misconceptions of its purpose and utility in medicine are common, and some remain skeptical of its value.1 We provide a brief overview of the potential for social media to advance pediatric research and describe the use of hashtags, elaborating with an example from the neonatal clinical research community.