Promoting organ donation on the Twitter platform: an exploratory analysis in Ecuador

Abstract

There is a growing discrepancy between the number of organ donors and potential recipients in Ecuador. It is estimated that more than 800 patients are on the waiting list for organs. Likewise, the population does not recognize the importance and benefits of donating, although, since 2011, each Ecuadorian is a donor. This exploratory study is intended to address organ donation as a topic for debate within social networks. For this purpose, Twitter was selected as the platform, primarily because it is actively and internationally related to the political. In Ecuador, there is a direct relationship in politics between visibility on Twitter and acceptance in the polls. Data referring to organ donation were not obtained in this study. It demonstrates that the debate around the subject does not have higher dynamics on Twitter.