Leveraging Social Media to Learn: A New Era for Medical Education

Digital technology is designed to keep us hooked and engaged for prolonged periods of time ( 1 Social media has hijacked our minds: click here to fight it. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/our-minds-have-been-hijacked-by-our-phones-tristan-harris-wants-to-rescue-them. Accessed on March 2, 2022. Google Scholar ). On average we interact with it about 58 times a day, and according to a report, teens spend an average of nine daily hours on social media platforms ( 2 Landmark Report: U.S. Teens use an average of nine hours of media per day, tweens use six hours. Available at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/news/press-releases/landmark-report-us-teens-use-an-average-of-nine-hours-of-media-per-day-tweens-use-six-hours. Accessed on March 2, 2022. Google Scholar ). Due to digital dissonance, this highly engaging and time-consuming technology is not always considered useful for educational purposes ( 3 Clark W Logan K Luckin R et al. Beyond web 2.0: Mapping the technology landscapes of young Learners. J Comput Assist Learn. 2009; 25: 56-69https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2008.00305.x Crossref Scopus (148) Google Scholar ). Despite this, leveraging the power of social media to maximize learning is still possible.