Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Dermatology
Date Submitted: Feb 24, 2022
Date Accepted: May 10, 2022
Date Submitted to PubMed: Aug 26, 2023
Lack of skin of color representation in dermatology-related Instagram posts: a content analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Studies have demonstrated that minority patients have significantly lower rates of dermatology care, partly attributable to lack of health information. Skin of color representation on social media is less well documented, even as studies show that patients are increasingly turning towards it for information.
Objective:
The goal of our study was to evaluate skin of color representation on top dermatology related Instagram posts.
Methods:
Popular dermatology related photos on Instagram were assigned Fitzpatrick skin type scores by two independent raters. Additionally, the number of account followers, account engagement rate, and account type was recorded for each post’s respective profile.
Results:
We identified 441 posts that met our study’s inclusion criteria. Of these posts, 10.4% displayed skin of color (Fitzpatrick types IV – VI). The mean follower count for skin of color posts was 87,440 compared to 167,660 for lighter skin types (Fitzpatrick types I – III). Of posts made by provider accounts, 9.8% displayed skin of color individuals.
Conclusions:
There is a relative underrepresentation of skin of color on popular dermatology related Instagram content. As social media gains traction as a health information resource, providers and organizations can play an active role in posting skin of color content to help reduce the gap in representation of dermatologic information.
Citation
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