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USING SNAPCHAT AT
MEETINGS OF THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF CLINICAL
ONCOLOGY (@ASCO)
#ASCO17
Emil Lou, MD, PhD
@Cancerassassin1
Physician-Scientist
Board-certified in
Medical Oncology, Neuro-oncology, & Internal Medicine

WHAT IS SNAPCHAT, EXACTLY?
 According to Wikipedia: “Snapchat is an image
messaging and multimedia mobile application…”
 It has features including sharing still images or
very brief (10 second) videos, and also text
messages.
 Filters, emoticons, words, and other images can be
added on top of photos or videos.
 Capability: Videos and photos can be privately between
individuals, OR with followers/friends who would have
access over a 24-hour period via the MyStory feature.
 It’s built for mobile devices – not accessible via
desktop.

UNIQUE FEATURES OF SNAPCHAT
 Twitter is already very popular among ASCO Attendees.
 Each year, ASCO highlights a number of oncology experts
across multiple disciplines as part of the “Featured
Voices” for each meeting.
 Other forms of social media have also taken hold in
medicine and science already (in addition to Twitter, such
as profession-specific forums like LinkedIn,
ResearchGate, etc.).
 On occasion, Facebook Live or Periscope are also used
for live video streaming. For example, other scientific
associations (e.g. the AACR) have used Facebook Live to
engage the public and report from its Annual Meetings.

UNIQUE FEATURES OF SNAPCHAT
 Snapchat allows for sharing of photos
(much like Instagram), and also short 10-
second videos. You can also modify them
by adding text and icons.
 The content is ephemeral – viewed once,
and it disappears, or content on MyStory
disappears after 24 hours.
Instagram and Facebook have adapted
similar approaches based on
Snapchat’s MyStory format.

WHY USE SNAPCHAT?
 If you post photos or videos, you can save them
onto your mobile device; they can then later also
be posted to Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc. if
you wish.
 Everything you post is temporary – which is the
whole point and advantage of this medium: more
opportunity to be spontaneous, less formal, and if
you don’t like it, it goes away. There is less
pressure to make the final product ‘perfect’.

THE DISAPPEARING ACT
 Some people have concerns that Snaps
can’t be saved or “archived”.
 In reality, most of us don’t find ourselves
going back and re-reading old Tweets or
longing after older Instagram shots.
 My view: this feature does us a favor by
self-deleting snaps after 24 hours. This
prevents pile-up of ‘noise’ and excess
information.
 The bottom line: with this app, you can catch
up with today’s news today, and tomorrow’s
news tomorrow.

WHY USE SNAPCHAT?
 Consider it as a different form of social media
that complements Tweets with links, longer
videos on YouTube/OncologyTube, etc. It lends
itself to adding a more personal and informal
touch, depending on your creativity and
imagination on how to use it.
 Although viewers can screenshot images, they
cannot download your content per se.

OTHER ADVANTAGES
 The app’s built-in features include photo/video
capability, adding text over the visuals, and
they’re easy to send.
 No need to use Camera app to take a photo,
then needing to upload it separately in Twitter
or Instagram (separate apps).
 From start to finish, it takes just seconds per
Snap!

RISE OF SNAPCHAT – BEYOND TEENS
 Snapchat used to have a reputation (for those > 25
years of age) as being useful for images best left for
‘private viewing’….
 …But in the past few years, there has been a steep
rise in major news outlets and other media
companies displaying their content on Snapchat
(e.g. The Washington Post, Fortune magazine).
 These and other major outlets chronicled the 2016
Presidential election with more candor and behind-
the-scenes footage and reporting that you would not
have seen on TV.

 So are medical and research professional
organizations and individuals ready to take up
Snapchat as a form of social media?

MEDICAL & SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS USING SNAPCHAT TO
SHARE INFORMATION ON CLINICAL TRIALS, CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, AND CANCER
RESEARCH
 MD Anderson Cancer Center (mdandersoncc)
 St Judes Childrens Research Hospital (stjuderesearch)
 The American Association for Cancer Research (theaacr)
 Emil Lou, MD, PhD (cancerassassin1)
 Many major media outlets also use Snapchat effectively,
including the Today Show, CBS This Morning, The New York
Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today

THE AGE OF SNAPS
 Time will tell. In 2016, Snapchat overtook Twitter in
terms of social media traffic and rate of growth in use
and new users.
 There is a brand new audience, mostly consisting of
those < 30 years of age – in medicine/research, this
includes the next generation of physicians (oncologists,
surgeons, pathologists, radiation oncologists) and
scientists – including current and future medical
students, medical residents and fellows, undergraduate
science majors, graduate students, and postdoctoral
fellows.
 Future professionals in our field are on Snapchat NOW.

HOW TO GET STARTED
 As with any other social media platform, open an account
and register your information.
 Some basic tips:
 Unlike Twitter & Instagram, you can’t search for individual users
within the Snapchat app; you have to either already know their
username/handle, OR use the app to scan their profile image.
 The circle icon on the bottom can be used to take photos, or hold
it down to take videos up to 10-seconds.
 To post to viewers/followers, press the arrow key (lower-right
hand on the screen) and add it to your “MyStory” collection of
Snaps – they will be there for 24 hours before disappearing
spontaneously.
 Text and icons can be added once you take a picture – press on
the “T” icon in the upper part of the screen.
 Bottom line: Just have fun with it!

EXAMPLE OF HOW TO ADD SOMEONE: IN THE APP, SWIPE THE
SCREEN DOWNWARD; PRESS “ADD FRIENDS” AND THEN “ADD
BY USERNAME” (EG CANCERASSASSIN1); OR PRESS “ADD BY
SNAPCODE” (LIKE MINE COPIED BELOW)

ANOTHER EXAMPLE FOR USING IT AT
#ASCO17 AND OTHER CONFERENCES
 Snapchat also allows individual or
group text messages (photos and/or
videos. So you can use it to chat or
share info between sessions…The in-
app capabilities mean you don’t have to
do separate uploads of photos to text
messages, as everything is built-in.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE FOR USING IT AT
#ASCO17 AND OTHER CONFERENCES
 The McCormick Center venue is HUGE.
It’s easy to get lost, and miss people
you want to catch up with.
 With Snapchat, you can take and share
pictures of your location, send a 10-
second video or a photo to send a quick
message, or send a written
text…entirely within the app.

DISCOVER WHO’S POSTING OUTSIDE OF THE
CONFERENCE
 Have fun with Snapchat’s “Discover” feature.
 Explore and follow companies including
National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal,
The Washington Post, CNN, Esquire, and
others, by swiping from right to left.

 Experiment at #ASCO17 and other conferences,
and have fun!
 Emil Lou, MD, PhD
 Cancerassassin1 on Snapchat
 Also @Cancerassassin1 on Twitter, Instagram,
Pinterest, Periscope, �ݺ�ߣShare, ResearchGate,
Oncology Tube, and YouTube

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Using Snapchat at ASCO annual meetings

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