Overview of TikTok's most viewed dermatologic content and assessment of its reliability

Abstract

Overview of TikTok's most viewed dermatologic content and assessment of its reliabilityTo the Editor: Around 80% of people seek medical information online, and #45% report that social media influences their decisions to seek medical care. 1,2 With [2 billion total downloads, TikTok is the world's fastest growing social media platform. This popular app allows users to create and share short videos on numerous topics, including health care. Previous studies have analyzed the dermatologic content posted on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 3 This study is the first to characterize the content, sources, and reliability of the most popular dermatology videos on TikTok.Based on the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, we generated a list of the top 20 most commonly diagnosed dermatologic conditions. 4 On September 18, 2020, these diagnoses were queried as hashtags on TikTok, and the 8 diagnoses with the most videos were evaluated (Table I). The top 25 videos per diagnosis were identified based on engagement, a TikTok metric based on views, likes, comments, and shares. Videos unrelated to dermatology, paid advertisements, and non-English videos were excluded. Two investigators classified the remaining videos into $1 categories based on content. Interrater reliability was calculated using Cohen . Educational videos were subcategorized and compared with American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) guidelines to determine reliability. 5 Four board-certified dermatologists reviewed content assessment. The identities of content creators were confirmed through biographic information on TikTok or other linked social media platforms; board-certified dermatologists were confirmed through the AAD. Identity confirmation required $2 sources of congruent biographic information. Statistical analysis was performed using the z score test for 2 population proportions. P \.05 was considered statistically significant.Of the 200 videos identified, 171 were included. These videos amassed [521 million views. Videos were most often related to patient experiences/ testimonies, followed by education, clinical demonstrations/live procedures, and product reviews/nonpaid advertisements (Table I). Cohen yielded 0.988, showing excellent interrater reliability on content categorization. Content creators were most commonly patients (48.0%), board-certified dermatologists (25.8%), and estheticians (4.8%) (Table I). Board-certified dermatologists were the main source of educational videos (41.3%), adhering to AAD guidelines 96.8% of the time (Table II).Percentages are based on 171 total videos. *Videos were classified into $1 categories. y Defined as information about prevention, cause, diagnosis, and treatment of skin disease. z Defined as advice on skin appearance, and use/application of beauty and skin care products.x Makeup artists, barbers, relatives of patients, and unidentified posters.

Characterizing top educational TikTok videos by dermatologists in response to “TikTok and dermatology: An opportunity for public health engagement”

“…The methodology by which we identified these videos is described in our initial manuscript. 2 We previously reported that 96.8% (30/ 31) of these videos contained reliable educational content consistent with the American Academy of Dermatology guidelines, with a 50.1% greater probability of being reliable than videos posted by other content creators (P \ .00001). 2 In this follow-up study, we categorized these 31 videos according to their content and audiovisual features (Table II).…”

“…To the Editor: We thank Zheng et al 1 for their interest in our manuscript, ''Overview of TikTok's most viewed dermatologic content and assessment of its reliability.'' 2 We agree that TikTok holds great potential as a platform for disseminating educational information. To put this potential into perspective, the number of views for the hashtag #acne on TikTok more than doubled from 3.0 to 6.7 billion in just the past 5 months (Table I).…”

Impact of Social Media on Skin Cancer Prevention

“…Although TikTok is relatively new, it has gained incredible popularity and has now over 689 million monthly active users [ 1 ]. With more than 2 billion total downloads since its debut, TikTok is the world’s fastest growing social media platform [ 22 ]. TikTok began as an app to create short comedy videos and dance clips, but as beauty tutorials and product demonstrations soon proved popular, so too did a professional opinion.…”

Social Media in Dermatology and an Overview of Popular Social Media Platforms

“…Other popular TikTok hashtags include #eczema, #psoriasis, and #hidradenitissuppurativa [ 42 ]. Content creators have been identified as patients, board-certified dermatologists, and estheticians, discussing everything from medically accurate educational videos to natural remedies attempted at home [ 44 ]. Several board-certified dermatologists now use TikTok in an effort to spread medically accurate information and dispel misinformation being shared by other users [ 42 ].…”