Impact of Social Media on Skin Cancer Prevention

Henriette De La Garza, Mayra B. C. Maymone and Neelam A. Vashi
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Henriette De La Garza: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
Mayra B. C. Maymone: Department of Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Neelam A. Vashi: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Despite the increasing prevalence of social media usage in health care contexts, its impact on skin cancer prevention and awareness has not been largely investigated. We conducted a review of literature on this topic with the objective of summarizing and analyzing the role of social media in skin cancer and sun damage awareness and to identify the uses, benefits, and limitations of different social media platforms on skin cancer prevention. In today’s technological society, it is critical to understand and study the best form of communication. Specific platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok vary in originators of material, target demographics, messaging strategies, and reliability of information with regards to skin cancer, sun, and indoor tanning damage. Our results demonstrate that social media interventions have shown promise in skin cancer prevention and continue to escalate by the day. Dermatologists should keep pace with the latest dermatological content on social media and examine its evolution to target the right audience with the proper messages. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness and true impact of social media on meaningful and lasting behavior change for skin cancer prevention.

Keywords: dermatology; social media; skin cancer; sun damage; tanning; Instagram; Twitter; Facebook; YouTube; TikTok; influencers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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