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Facial Plast Surg
DOI: 10.1055/a-2593-9968
Original Research

H-Index or Hype Index? Are High H-Index Surgeons the Real Influencers on Social Media?

Kiran Abraham-Aggarwal 
1   Industrial and Labor Relations School, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
,
Andrew B. Yang
2   Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York
,
Daniel Spertus
3   Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York
,
John Frodel
4   Department of Facial Plastic Surgery, Guthrie Medical Group PC, Sayre, Pennsylvania
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Abstract

Introduction

Social media platforms, particularly TikTok and Instagram Reels, have transformed professional visibility in medicine. Facial plastic surgeons (FPS) leverage these platforms for public education and patient outreach. However, the relationship between social media popularity and scholarly impact remains unclear.

Objectives and Hypotheses

This study examines whether an otolaryngologist's social media presence correlates with their H-index, a measure of academic credibility. We hypothesize that higher H-index scores predict greater social media engagement on Instagram and TikTok.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

We extracted HypeAuditor data for TikTok and Instagram engagement metrics among users with otolaryngology content with ≥25,000 followers. H-index was retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Correlation analyses were performed.

Results

Instagram H-index correlated positively with follower count and quality audience, while TikTok showed no significant association.

Conclusion

Academic credibility influences Instagram engagement but not TikTok, highlighting platform-specific differences in professional influence.

Keywords

otolaryngology - plastic surgery - facial plastic surgery - social media - H-index - academic impact - TikTok - Instagram

Declaration of GenAI Use

The authors did not use artificial intelligence (AI) for any part of this project.


Authors' Contributions

K.A.: Conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, visualization, supervision, project administration, and writing—original draft, review, and editing.


A.B.Y.: Methodology, software, validation, investigation, data curation, and writing—original draft.


D.J.S.: Writing—review and editing.


J.L.F.: Project administration, supervision, and writing—review and editing.


Institution/Department: Guthrie Medical Group PC, Facial Plastic Surgery.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Accepted Manuscript online:
25 April 2025

Article published online:
30 May 2025

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