Reddy Aakash
College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA.
Cureus. 2021 May 7;13(5):e14890. doi: 10.7759/cureus.14890.
As the size and influence of online dermatologic communities have developed significantly in recent years, literature concerning the relationship between social media and dermatology grows more important. One community of interest is r/SkincareAddiction, a forum of over 1.2 million members on Reddit that serves as both a support group and discussion aggregator sourcing information from multiple social media platforms.
This study reports on the qualitative analysis of 300 highly engaged posts to identify prominent themes in online dermatologic discussions and determine the extent of multiplatform interaction between Reddit and other dermatology-relevant social networks.
Results of an inductive analysis indicate discussions place an emphasis on communicating advice and improving general wellbeing, comprising 71% of measured posts. However, a large portion of this counsel lacks evidence and pseudoscientific recommendations are often accepted as factual. Additionally, 31% of entries were drawn from alternative social media sites.
Assessing the prevalent points of discussion in dermatology-relevant communities can inform clinical practice and reveal alternative methods to advance the delivery of care. As patients increasingly seek health advice and support online, developing digital literacy in common dermatologic trends offers a unique opportunity to improve communication, disseminate evidence-based counsel, and combat misinformation in both clinical and online settings.
近年来，随着在线皮肤科社区的规模和影响力显著发展，有关社交媒体与皮肤科关系的文献变得越发重要。一个受关注的社区是r/SkincareAddiction，它是Reddit上一个拥有超过120万成员的论坛，既是一个支持小组，也是一个讨论聚合平台，从多个社交媒体平台获取信息。
本研究报告了对300篇高参与度帖子的定性分析，以确定在线皮肤科讨论中的突出主题，并确定Reddit与其他皮肤科相关社交网络之间的多平台互动程度。
归纳分析结果表明，讨论重点在于交流建议和改善总体健康状况，占所测帖子的71%。然而，这些建议中有很大一部分缺乏证据，伪科学建议常常被当作事实接受。此外，31%的帖子源自其他社交媒体网站。
评估与皮肤科相关社区中普遍的讨论要点可为临床实践提供参考，并揭示推进医疗服务的替代方法。随着患者越来越多地在网上寻求健康建议和支持，培养对常见皮肤科趋势的数字素养提供了一个独特的机会，可改善沟通、传播循证建议并在临床和在线环境中对抗错误信息。
