Social media platforms for ethical post-publication promotion

The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database defines social media as: "Platforms that provide the ability and tools to create and publish information accessed via the INTERNET."These platforms facilitate effective interaction between content generators and viewers/followers [1].Basically, social media operate not just as promotion platforms but also enable global visibility of published contents, hypothesis generation, distribution of research tools, and science communication [2].Over the past decade, social media platforms have emerged as an essential source of open-access information for health professionals, patients, and the public at large [3,4].As post-publication communication channels, social media contribute to scholarly article visibility, increasing chances of garnering citations and boosting traditional and alternative journal metrics [5].Subsequently, new aggregate indicators, such as the Altmetric Attention Score, have emerged as valuable article-level metrics that reflect societal implications of scholarly outputs [6].Social media platforms are variably employed across countries and academic communities.Journal editors are increasingly utilizing social media to expand their audience.Recent data from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia indicate increasing use of social media within academic and clinical communities, underscoring heightened regional engagement in digital dissemination [7,8].Additionally, several academic societies have recently launched social media platforms to expand their outreach and improve communication with their members.Most reputable journals have launched and nurtured a variety of social media channels, including those on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and emerging platforms like Threads and Bluesky, to serve the interests of their followers with diverse professional and linguistic backgrounds [9,10].Along with official journal accounts, individual health professionals with skills of ethical post-publication promotion have massively populated popular social media channels for exposing their research findings and widening their collaboration circles.Individual patients and related communities have also embraced the opportunities offered by digitization and open online communication, aiming to enhance disease awareness and access cutting-edge information related to prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation [11,12].Numerous advantages and benefits offered by social media-such as rapid dissemination of information, increased societal impact, and opportunities for post-publication evaluation-are also accompanied by risks, including the dissemination of unverified and, at times, healthdamaging (mis)information, breaches of patient privacy, and broader violations of ethical communication norms [13].