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COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown, suspending all on-campus educational activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), compelling to continue the education online. We explored pharmacy students’ perspective on its impact on their learning. A Twitter chat was organized on three consecutive days, after final examinations, inviting all pharmacy students in KSA to participate. Day 1 chat included 11 questions regarding learning and assessment, Day 2 chat included six questions about online examinations and six questions about technology use, Day 3 chat included six questions related to lessons learnt from the learning experiences during the lockdown. The questions were validated and piloted before the chat. The responses were copied, reviewed to remove any confidential information, and thematically analyzed by two teams of research students independently. During the three-day chat, 790 responses were received in total. Thematic analysis generated 944 codes which were categorized into 43 subthemes. These subthemes were further categorized into six main themes: ‘facilitators for online education’, ‘barriers for online education’, ‘online versus onsite education’, ‘role of technology in online education’, ‘suggestions for improving online education’ and ‘long-term impact of online education during lockdown’. Participants highlighted several facilitators and barriers which affected their education during the lockdown, compared online education with onsite education, and provided suggestions for improving online education based on their learning experiences during the lockdown. As COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions are expected to last longer, pharmacy colleges and academic staff will find these findings useful to prepare for the coming years, ensuring pedagogical and accreditation standards.

Social media users can harness the interactivity and connectivity of social networking sites to create a sense of place in a digital environment. This article argues that regularly scheduled Twitter chats can function as digital third places, sites of online sociality that both mirror and deviate from physical gathering sites such as bars or clubs. Using Oldenburg’s eight characteristics of (built) third places, this study examines how people collectively identify with others and collaborate in digital gathering sites. Through an investigation of 1 month of multiple, recurring Twitter chats, including over 3,100 tweets, a textual analysis explores Oldenburg’s characteristics of built third places in the context of these digital interactions. The findings add nuance to the application of Oldenburg’s themes in a networked media context and suggest that social networking sites offer the potential for continued thinking about the role of third places in developing connectivity online. Moreover, the findings suggest further opportunities for the study of space—both physical and digital—and the study of time as integral components of digitally mediated interpersonal connection.

Little empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of using Twitter as a two-way communication tool for public health practice, such as Twitter chats. We analyzed whether Twitter chats facilitate engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. We also describe how to measure two-way communications, incoming and outgoing mentions, between users in a protocol using free and publicly available tools (Symplur, OpenRefine, and Gephi). We used a mixed-methods approach, social network analysis, and content analysis. The study population comprised individuals and organizations participating or who were mentioned in the first #LiveFitNOLA chat, during a 75-min period on March 5, 2015, from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM Central Time. We assessed audience engagement in two-way communications with two metrics: engagement ratio and return on engagement (ROE). The #LiveFitNOLA chat had 744 tweets and 66 participants with an average of 11 tweets per participant. The resulting network had 134 network members and 474 engagements. The engagement ratios and ROEs for the #LiveFitNOLA organizers were 1:1, 40% (13/32) (@TulanePRC) and 2:1, -40% (-25/63) (@FitNOLA). Content analysis showed information sharing (63.9%, 314/491) and health information (27.9%, 137/491) as the most salient theme and sub-theme, respectively. Our findings suggest Twitter chats facilitate audience engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. The #LiveFitNOLA organizers' engagement ratios and ROEs indicated a moderate level of engagement with their audience. The practical significance of the engagement ratio and ROE depends on the audience, context, scope, scale, and goal of a Twitter chat or other organized hashtag-based communications on Twitter.

Although the spotlight shines for a brief moment on World Birth Defects Day (WBDD) on 3 March each year, it is an opportunity to illuminate key issues and share new knowledge, research and resources by effectively using social media. This year we celebrated the fifth annual WBDD. A major effort was realized to mobilize the global network of knowledge and expertise to 'e-connect people' with great enthusiasm and success. On WBDD, the world is asked to stop and think about those who have been born with a birth defect. The most common of these birth defects are Down's Syndrome, heart and neural tube defects. The WHO defines birth defect under the umbrella term of congenital anomaly (CA). CAs can be defined as 'structural or functional anomalies that occur during intrauterine life and can be identified prenatally, at birth or later in life.

Twitter is a free, open access social media platform that is widely used in medicine by physicians, scientists, and patients. It provides an opportunity for advocacy, education, and collaboration. However, it is likely not utilized to its full advantage by many disciplines in medicine, and pitfalls exist in its use. In particular, there has not been a review of Twitter use and its applications in the field of neurology. This review seeks to provide an understanding of the current use of Twitter in the field of neurology to assist neurologists in engaging with this potentially powerful application to support their work.

This study presents two cases in which undergraduates were introduced to Twitter in their teacher preparation program as a means of developing a personal learning network. Twitter live chats are synchronous discussions that allow education stakeholders to discuss issues and share resources, engaging on potentially a global scale via the social networking platform. This study examines how students participated in these live chats, perceived benefits and challenges and how prior experience and preconceived perceptions of Twitter influenced the live chat experience and intentions for continued participation. Pre-activity reflections, student tweets and post-activity reflections were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. While familiarity with Twitter varied, no participants had previously participated in a professional Twitter live chat; the majority of participants indicated a positive perception and intensions to continue participating in Twitter live chats. Plans for introducing, scaffolding and reflecting on initial Twitter live chat experiences are detailed and considerations and implications are discussed.

The paper describes guidelines for the planning, organization, and successful execution of virtual, global scientific conferences for global audiences. The guidelines are based on experience and lessons learned during the organization of the 3‐day 2020 Virtual Systems Chemistry Symposium hosted on Zoom webinar and Twitter, held on May 2020 with over 1000 registered participants from 46 different countries. This planning guide outlines ten steps that academic organizers can follow to successfully organize and execute virtual, global scientific symposia for global audiences. The authors have also included instructional guides, videos, and PowerPoint slides that can be used as templates or inspiration for hosting virtual symposia with oral presentations on Zoom webinar and poster presentations on Twitter.

This article examines the effects of the social media applications Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat/Instagram, Texting and various smartphone applications on academic dishonesty in higher education. The study employed a mixed-methods approach conducted through an emailed question-pro student survey consisting of 20 questions. The results of the study indicated that the majority of students in higher education utilize the social media applications Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat/Instagram and Smart Phones to assist with their academic studies. Although students report utilizing these forms of social media to assist with their studies most do not use these applications for cheating or any form of academic dishonesty. There was an increased willingness to use texting, screenshots, video and audio recordings to cheat on exams and other academic requirements. In addition, the majority of participants indicated they felt any form of cheating or academic dishonesty was wrong. However, most indicated they would do little or nothing to intervene or prevent it in their particular classroom situations.

Purpose The purpose of this exploratory study is to describe the use of social media platforms in a first-year accounting course at a South African university and provide evidence on whether students found these social networking sites useful. Design/methodology/approach The study uses survey research to determine students' usage of two social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) and their perceptions of these platforms' usefulness in a first-year accounting course. Findings The study found that the time spent on the two social media platforms does not detract from the time spent on preparation for the first-year accounting course. Students' perceptions on the usefulness of these platforms showed support by all students for using social media to provide career information, but not all students perceived the platforms to be useful for communication and teaching and learning. While no statistically significant differences were found in the students' responses based on gender, a number of statistically significant differences were found when the results were analysed according to language. Students whose home language was not English found the two social media platforms more useful for some aspects of communication, teaching and learning and for career guidance than English-speaking students. Research limitations/implications The questionnaire was only administered to students on one campus who had actually accessed the social media platforms. Therefore, the results are not generalisable beyond this study. Practical implications The study shows that students whose home language is not English perceived the platforms more useful for communication, some teaching and learning aspects and for career guidance in a first-year accounting course. This may be helpful to other accounting teachers faced with student disruptions, large classes or high numbers of international students whose first language is not English, and who need to communicate with all their students. Originality/value The study adds to the discourse on the usefulness of social media platforms in a tertiary education setting, and more particularly, in a first-year accounting course in South Africa.

The health landscape is shifting to one in which common individuals are no longer merely consumers, but also producers, of health information. We demonstrate that social media platforms provide the means to seek and receive personalized, credible health advice from peers at any place and time, by tracking dental health advice sought and received in Twitter. We show that for genuine dental advice-seeking questions, answers are received 32 % of the time, with the first reply coming less than 6 min after the question is posed, in the median. We compare our results to studies focusing on generic questions and find stronger relationships between users that answer health questions. Additionally, we find that users with more social capital, in the form of more reciprocal follower/following relationships, are more likely to receive responses and receive them faster, and are thus better able to leverage their social networks in receiving advice.