Institutional pain communication via Twitter by Spanish and US pain societies: Analysis of levels of use and engagement

Pain is a complex issue, and often patients feel isolated. Social media are arising as instruments where users find support and spaces to express their pain. This study analyses how two pain institutions – the Spanish Pain Society (SED) and the American Pain Society (APS) – are creating messages and communicating them through Twitter, by examining their profile content and procedures. A comparative analysis was applied to 2474 tweets corresponding to the period running from the inception of the profiles (APS July 2010, SED March 2013) to February 2016. Both profiles manage aspects like targeted audiences and referential content quite well, whereas frequency and engagement with users would need to be improved. Although the two institutions are already using this social media tool, we suggest that both organizations would benefit from developing a social media strategy. Nevertheless, further research is needed in order to understand deeply how pain is communicated via Twitter.