Social Media as a Medium for Dermatologic Education

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We explore the utility of social media platforms as educational tools in dermatology, providing a summary of how these sites are used by the public and dermatologists alike, and demonstrating ways these findings may be applied for educational purposes. RECENT FINDINGS: Over half of the world’s population utilizes social media platforms. More recently, these platforms have increasingly been used for educational purposes. In the field of dermatology, a large portion of the educational content is coming from users with no formal medical or dermatologic training. SUMMARY: Each of the top five social media platforms in the world (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook) has unique qualities which people may utilize to educate fellow users. As more of the population seeks online health information and education, it is important that dermatologists, while taking ethical considerations into account, become more comfortable facilitating educational content on social media.