Those were the days when newspapers, TV and radio used to be the only source of disseminating any information. With the advent of the internet and especially social media, the spread of knowledge and recent news has become tremendously fast. Conferences and letters used to be the only media for connecting neurosurgeons worldwide in yesteryear. But instant access of information and connecting neurosurgeons worldwide has become possible now due to the advent of the internet and social media.
Four pillars of networking neurosurgeons, which are connecting neurosurgeons worldwide in an instant manner, are the World Federations of Neurosurgical Society (WFNS), conferences, publications, and social media.
Since the starting of WFNS in 1955, Neurosurgeons have been connected to this supreme society of neurosurgeons through the respective country’s society.
WFNS now has 130 member societies, five continental associations, 119 national neurosurgical societies, and six affiliated societies, which is representing over 71 thousand neurosurgeons (1) in the world. Dissemination of knowledge and the latest updates among neurosurgeons occurs through the every two-yearly congress of WFNS.
Many national and international conferences are organized each year, which connect national and international neuro- surgeons. Each major conference, like the WFNS Congress, European Associations of Neurosurgical Society, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Associations of Neurological Surgeons, is attracting over 3 thousand neurosurgeons every year. These platforms are not meant only to disseminate knowledge but also a means to connect mentors and prominent neurosurgeons around the world in persons.
Publications are another means of networking neurosurgeons where connecting new neurosurgeons occur through making scientific collaborations in articles.
Above all, the central role of networking neurosurgeons is being played by social media. Social media has become an indis- pensable means of everyone’s life. Whether being announcement of conferences, video, workshops, webinars, or new publica- tion alerts, social media plays a cornerstone role now (2–5). The role of Neurosurgery Cocktail (2, 6–10), currently the largest neurosurgical social media platform on Facebook (31K members), Instagram (3902 followers), X (29K followers), Telegram (10K members), LinkedIn (2K members), Threads, WeChat, and WhatsApp (15K members) can’t be overlooked in connect- ing neurosurgeons worldwide. Since its inception (2016), Neurosurgery Cocktail has evolved beyond a mere discussion forum, becoming an unparalleled medium for case consultations, mentorship, education, and research collaboration (5–10). The power of such platforms has been especially evident in the COVID era, where restrictions on travel and in-person conferences neces- sitated the rapid expansion of virtual engagement. Being the private group of 55,000 neurosurgeons worldwide, where only neurosurgeons can join, is maintaining a good reputation in networking neurosurgeons globally.
References
1. Gupta S, Gal ZT, Athni TS, Calderon C, Callison WÉ, Dada OE, et al. Mapping the global neurosurgery workforce. Part 2: trainee density. J Neurosurg. (2024) 141(1):10–6. doi: 10.3171/2023.9.JNS231616
2. Chaurasia B, Umana GE, Scalia G, Barresi F, Yagmurlu K, Soldozy S, et al. Largest neurosurgical social media group and its impact on communication and research. Br J Neurosurg. (2022) 36(1):58–62.
3. Conti A, Magnani M, Zoli M, Kockro RA, Tuleasca C, Peschillo S, et al. Social Media for Global Neurosurgery. Benefits and limitations of a groundbreaking approach to communication and education. Brain Spine. (2023) 3:101728.
4. Lavadi RS, Bozkurt I, Harikar MM, Umana GE, Chaurasia B. The role of social media on the research productivity of neurosurgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic. World Neurosurg. (2022) 167:e1419–25.
5. Lee CH, Nawabi N, White C, Garba DL, Umana GE, Lawton MT, et al. Social media in neurosurgery during COVID-19: an evaluation of the role of Neurosurgery Cocktail platform. J Neurosurg Sci (2024) 68(5):590–7.
6. Chaurasia B, Atallah O. Letter to the editor regarding promotion of a neurosurgical academic journal on social media: a 1-year experience. Acta Neuro- chirurgica. (2024) 166(1):60.
7. Sherwani MR, Chaurasia B. Social media for research and training for aspiring neurosurgeons and residents. Neurosurg Rev. (2024) 47(1):240.
8. Bozkurt I, Chaurasia B. Attitudes of neurosurgeons toward social media: a multi-institutional study. World Neurosurg. (2021) 147:e396–404.
9. Farooq M, Rehman OU, Chaurasia B. Neurosurgical videos and social media: publish, post, or perish. Oper Neurosurg. (2024) 26(5):614–5.
10. Waheed A, Chaurasia B. Navigating the digital landscape: social media’s role in neurosurgery career development. Neurosurg Rev. (2024) 47(1):286.
© The Author(s). 2025 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.