MATERIALS AND METHODS
On October 12th, 2021, an investigator input the following hashtags into the TikTok application’s search bar: #BlackSkinCare, #BlackSkinTreatment, #BlackSkinAdvice, and #BlackSkinCareTips. We did not use the search term #SkinOfColor as this term is used almost exclusively by dermatologists and could have the potential to skew the results. TikTok’s pre-set search filters of “all time” for date posted and “relevance” for sorting were kept to mimic the results that users would come across when searching organically. With each search, the top 50 videos were copied into an Excel spreadsheet via a URL link to be analyzed later.
After the total of 200 videos was obtained, the videos were then classified into the following categories: educational content, personal experience, clinical demonstration/procedure, business/advertisement, or entertainment/humor. Videos that were unrelated to dermatology were excluded. Next, the skin concern addressed in each video was recorded. If a specific dermatologic concern was not addressed, the video was categorized as “general skin concern/not specified.” Finally, the creator of each video was recorded. The identities of content creators were confirmed through biographic information in the bio and/or other linked social media profiles.
RESULTS
Content Type
Of the 200 TikTok videos collected, 2 were excluded as they were unrelated to dermatology. A total of 198 were further analyzed. 57.1% of the videos posted were educational content, followed by 23.2% containing personal experiences. Clinical demonstrations/live procedures, business/advertisement, and entertainment/humor followed with 9.6%, 5.6%, and 4.5%, respectively.
Skin Disease/Concern
Most posts, 54.5%, were about general skincare and did not specify a skin disease/concern. 22.7% of the posts addressed dark spots which included hyperpigmentation, acne scars, and sunspots. Acne followed dark spots with 12.1% of posts addressing it as a concern. Ingrown hair/razor bumps and skin texture/open pores followed, both with 3.5% each. Finally, chemical burns, cysts/abscess, dark armpits, psoriasis, skin tag/moles, strawberry legs, and tinea versicolor all came in last with 0.5% each.
Sources of Content
54% of the videos were posted by vloggers or individuals based on their personal accounts. Board-certified dermatologists were the second leading posters, with 18.7% of the videos posted. Estheticians accounted for 16.2% of the videos posted and, lastly, content posted by a business/industry comprised 8.6% of the videos analyzed.
CONCLUSIONS
This study aimed to determine the sources of content related to black skin on TikTok. Previous studies looking at dermatology content on TikTok found that 25.8% of the top dermatology posts were created by board-certified dermatologists.2 Another study reported that dermatologists were responsible for 20% of the skin of color posts on TikTok.4 Our study found that when looking specifically at black skin, posts were less likely to be created by a board-certified dermatologist (18.7%). This finding suggests that there is an opportunity for dermatologists to increase educational content relating to black skin on TikTok.
It is encouraging that most of the dermatologic content relating to black skin on TikTok is educational (57.1%). This contrasts with the Instagram study where most skin of color videos were promotional (61.6%).3 This finding, combined with TikTok’s growing popularity, makes TikTok an excellent opportunity for
