Digital Authority Versus Academic Authority: Who Really Influences Men's Health?

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ABSTRACT Digital platforms increasingly shape how male patients access health information, particularly in urology and men's health. While surgeons are active on social media, it remains unclear whether those who dominate online discourse reflect academic authority or simply digital visibility—and how this may influence patient perceptions and research priorities. To identify the most influential Australian surgeons on Twitter (X), examine the relationship between social media influence and academic impact, and explore the implications of digitally mediated visibility for men's health. Twitter influence scores for Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)‐affiliated surgeons were generated using the Right Relevance algorithm. The top 20 influencers were characterised by speciality, gender, location and academic impact (h‐index). Correlation between influence score and h‐index was assessed using Pearson's coefficient. Google Trends was analysed for key urological topics to describe how people are engaging with these topics online. Among the top 20 influencers, 75% were male, and 80% were based in metropolitan centres. Urologists were overrepresented (40%). Median h‐index was 10 (IQR = 21.5), with a moderate positive correlation between Twitter influence and academic impact ( r = 0.578, p = 0.007). Content was predominantly professional, including educational material and public health messaging. Increasing search interest was noted across key men's health‐related search terms on Google Trends. Highly visible surgeons on social media generally demonstrate academic credibility; however, digital influence represents a distinct and increasingly important form of authority in medicine and is likely to shape patient engagement and attention within men's health. In men's health, where patients increasingly engage with online content, this may skew attention toward conditions and topics that are more'visible' or engaging rather than those of greatest clinical need. Greater awareness of this evolving relationship between digital and academic authority is required to ensure that digital engagement enhances, rather than distorts, evidence‐based urological care and research priorities.