The social media platform TikTok has grow to be a cultural phenomenon, influencing the behavior and tastes of its users in almost every area of life. From dance trends to skincare and makeup, health hacks to fad diets, TikTok’s recommendations can go viral in minutes – identical to the health advice it incorporates.
Some of most regularly searched Educational videos on TikTok cover food plan, exercise and sexual health.
“Fitspiration” is a well-liked hashtag on social media that goals to motivate users to lead a healthier lifestyle. “Fitspo” posts often feature before-and-after photos or “aspirational” photos of influencers with ideal body types. But quite a few studies I discovered it lots of them social media posts (could have a negative impact) on users’ mental health and promote or deepen it body insecurity.
Social media has its benefits. For example, it allows users to share their experiences with health problems. One study showed this 80% of cancer patients use social media to engage peers. However, it will possibly also help spread health misinformation.
For example, 2023 study conducted by Dublin City University found that 57% of Gen Z and Millennial TikTok users are influenced by or frequently adopt food trends from the platform. The same study also found that only 2.1% of dietary data analyzed on TikTok were found to be accurate in comparison to public health guidelines.
But which will change soon. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced long-term partnership with TikTok to provide users with credible, science-based evidence.
However, healthcare professionals are already trying to raise health literacy on social media. Doctors and specialists post videos geared toward educating users about melanoma and melanoma dark skinfor instance. These resources are very essential because although melanoma is less common in individuals with dark skin, five-year survival rate is just 66% compared to 90% for non-Hispanic whites. This is because melanoma is usually diagnosed much later in individuals with darker skin.
Other cancer related topics corresponding to laryngeal cancer, stomach cancer, thyroid cancer AND breast cancer additionally they show increased user interaction. However, while there are many patient perspectives, health care providers have far fewer, lower-quality resources.
2022 study found that of the preferred articles published on social media in 2018 and 2019 in regards to the 4 most typical cancers, one in three contained false, inaccurate or misleading information. And much of this misinformation about cancer was potentially harmful. For example, promoting unproven treatments.
Stories shared by patients posting on social media in regards to the topic their journeys with cancer May be powerfulespecially for users going through similar experiences. But they can be scary – and sometimes they are unfaithful.
Difficult topics
Content about potentially embarrassing or intimate health issues has grow to be popular on social media, which is usually the primary point of contact when symptoms occur or after an initial diagnosis.
Anal fissure videos are extremely popular variety of viewsand posts sharing experiences with intrauterine contraceptive devices attention was drawn to frequent unintended effects that may help other users make contraceptive decisions.
IVF is a priceless and a growing topic of debate on social media, but there is bigger engagement needed from experts to ensure medical accuracy of recommendation and guidance.
Creating power for good
Likewise, information on social media about neurodevelopmental conditions corresponding to autism and ADHD has increased dramatically within the movement of spectators. Celebrities, specifically, use social media platforms to speak about their very own diagnoses and urge or encourage others to seek help. For example, Tom Stoltman, the present reigning and three-time strongest man on the planet, has been outspoken about his autism diagnosis and how it will possibly be a superpower.
The growing challenges of mental health diagnosis are a double-edged sword on social media. Availability of knowledge may help you understand diseases – but it will possibly also help in self-diagnosis, which are growing and may cause burden on healthcare systems AND potential risk to patients.
Various studies drawing attention to the issue of health disinformation on social media. One study showed that X (formerly Twitter) had the best levels of misinformation. Lots of research evaluation of health content on social media shows that lower than 30% is medically accurate.
So, while health posts on social media will be helpful for those in search of a patient perspective, it is necessary that users even have access to high-quality, medically accurate resources from qualified professionals.
We hope that the WHO and TikTok collaboration will help facilitate and promote greater engagement of healthcare staff on social media.