In December 2010, Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) joined Facebook and Linkedin. SVS already had an established presence on Twitter and YouTube. The impact of all four social media networks provides awareness of the specialty of vascular surgery and the SVS brand in the modern media.
The SVS Facebook business page features basic information about SVS and recent press releases. As of April 15, 2011, 147 persons formally joined or agreed to “like” the SVS Facebook page. These Facebook fans have had 4,132 views of the SVS page.
Twitter is the 140-character communications vehicle that instantly distributes vascular health information around the world. Since its launch in April 2009, the SVS Twitter page has “tweeted” 192 messages to 358 followers.
YouTube remains a strong social media component for SVS. Of the 143 podcasts posted on the SVS Channel in the past two years, the most popular video is, Carotid Endartectomy, with 5,490 views. The second most popular podcast is, Venous Insufficiency, with 3,057 views.
The social networking site, Linkedin.com lists SVS employees and features profiles of the professional staff at the Chicago and Washington offices. Currently, 44 people are “following” SVS on Linkedin. The page includes recent press releases and highlights the latest SVS mass media references.
All SVS members are encouraged to “follow” and “like” SVS through these new and immediate forms of electronic communications. The four social media icons appear on the bottom left of every screen on the SVS website, VascularWeb.org®.
