Laryngectomy: Social media analysis of patient perception

Background: Social media continues to grow as a relevant information source for the lay public and medical professionals. Methods: A search of posts on Facebook and Instagram was conducted using the hashtag #laryngectomy. Posts were categorized based upon perspective, media type, timeframe, topic, tone, and popularity. Results: Final analysis included 929 Instagram posts and 355 Facebook posts. Most Facebook posts were made by companies (38%) and physicians (17%) with information (30%) and advertisements (22%) being common topics. Patients (40%) were the largest group of Instagram authors with lifestyle (39%) being the most common topic. Greater than 90% of posts were either neutral or positive in tone across both platforms. Conclusions: Patient perspective was most commonly represented on Instagram, whereas Facebook more commonly included posts by physicians and companies. The majority of posts carried a neutral or positive tone, which is consistent with positive quality of life patients have shown postoperatively.