Social Media and Kidney Transplant Donation in the United States: Clinical and Ethical Considerations When Seeking a Living Donor

Social media encompasses a wide variety of internet applications that allow users to publish content and interact with networks of people. Examples of social media use and engagement range from updating one’s own profile and creating content to liking and commenting on posts, photos, and videos by others, as well as sharing and responding to third-party content and links. Pew research estimates that 68% of US adults use Facebook, and 88% of 18- to 29-year-olds use some form of social media.1 Importantly, the relative ease of access to social media enables users to share content that can quickly be spread to a large number of people.