College of Journalism & Mass Communications, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.
School of Journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States.
JMIR Infodemiology. 2024 May 21;4:e54663. doi: 10.2196/54663.
BACKGROUND: TikTok is one of the most-used and fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, and recent reports indicate that it has become an increasingly popular source of news and information in the United States. These trends have important implications for public health because an abundance of health information exists on the platform. Women are among the largest group of TikTok users in the United States and may be especially affected by the dissemination of health information on TikTok. Prior research has shown that women are not only more likely to look for information on the internet but are also more likely to have their health-related behaviors and perceptions affected by their involvement with social media. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a survey of young women in the United States to better understand their use of TikTok for health information as well as their perceptions of TikTok's health information and health communication sources. METHODS: A web-based survey of US women aged 18 to 29 years (N=1172) was conducted in April-May 2023. The sample was recruited from a Qualtrics research panel and 2 public universities in the United States. RESULTS: The results indicate that the majority of young women in the United States who have used TikTok have obtained health information from the platform either intentionally (672/1026, 65.5%) or unintentionally (948/1026, 92.4%). Age (959/1026, 93.47%; r=0.30; P<.001), education (959/1026, 93.47%; ρ=0.10; P=.001), and TikTok intensity (ie, participants' emotional connectedness to TikTok and TikTok's integration into their daily lives; 959/1026, 93.47%; r=0.32; P<.001) were positively correlated with overall credibility perceptions of the health information. Nearly the entire sample reported that they think that misinformation is prevalent on TikTok to at least some extent (1007/1026, 98.15%), but a third-person effect was found because the young women reported that they believe that other people are more susceptible to health misinformation on TikTok than they personally are (t=21.16; P<.001). Both health professionals and general users were common sources of health information on TikTok: 93.08% (955/1026) of the participants indicated that they had obtained health information from a health professional, and 93.86% (963/1026) indicated that they had obtained health information from a general user. The respondents showed greater preference for health information from health professionals (vs general users; t=23.75; P<.001); the respondents also reported obtaining health information from health professionals more often than from general users (t=8.13; P<.001), and they were more likely to act on health information from health professionals (vs general users; t=12.74; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that health professionals and health communication scholars need to proactively consider using TikTok as a platform for disseminating health information to young women because young women are obtaining health information from TikTok and prefer information from health professionals.
背景:TikTok 是全球使用最广泛、增长最快的社交媒体平台之一,最近的报告表明,它已成为美国越来越受欢迎的新闻和信息来源。这些趋势对公共卫生具有重要意义,因为平台上存在大量健康信息。女性是美国 TikTok 用户中最大的群体之一,可能特别受到 TikTok 上健康信息传播的影响。先前的研究表明,女性不仅更有可能在互联网上寻找信息,而且她们的健康相关行为和认知也更容易受到社交媒体参与的影响。
目的:我们对美国的年轻女性进行了一项调查,以更好地了解她们使用 TikTok 获取健康信息的情况,以及她们对 TikTok 健康信息和健康传播来源的看法。
方法:2023 年 4 月至 5 月期间,我们对美国 18 至 29 岁的女性(N=1172)进行了一项基于网络的调查。该样本是从 Qualtrics 研究小组和美国的 2 所公立大学招募的。
结果:结果表明,大多数使用过 TikTok 的美国年轻女性要么有意(672/1026,65.5%),要么无意(948/1026,92.4%)从该平台获取过健康信息。年龄(959/1026,93.47%;r=0.30;P<.001)、教育程度(959/1026,93.47%;ρ=0.10;P=.001)和 TikTok 参与度(即参与者对 TikTok 的情感联系和 TikTok 融入日常生活的程度;959/1026,93.47%;r=0.32;P<.001)与整体健康信息可信度感知呈正相关。几乎所有的参与者都报告说,他们认为 TikTok 上至少存在一定程度的错误信息(1007/1026,98.15%),但发现了一种第三人效应,因为年轻女性报告说,她们认为其他人比她们自己更容易受到 TikTok 上健康错误信息的影响(t=21.16;P<.001)。健康专业人员和普通用户都是 TikTok 上健康信息的常见来源:93.08%(955/1026)的参与者表示他们从健康专业人员那里获得了健康信息,93.86%(963/1026)表示他们从普通用户那里获得了健康信息。受访者对来自健康专业人员的健康信息表现出更大的偏好(与普通用户相比;t=23.75;P<.001);受访者还报告说,他们比普通用户更频繁地从健康专业人员那里获得健康信息(t=8.13;P<.001),并且更有可能对健康专业人员提供的健康信息采取行动(与普通用户相比;t=12.74;P<.001)。
结论:研究结果表明,健康专业人员和健康传播学者需要积极考虑将 TikTok 用作向年轻女性传播健康信息的平台,因为年轻女性正在从 TikTok 上获取健康信息,并且更喜欢来自健康专业人员的信息。
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