Analyzing acne vulgaris trending treatments, dermatologist prevalence, and content diversity in 2024 on tiktok

Summary: Abstract Body: A study by Irfan et al. (2023) found that physicians account for a large portion (38%) of the top “liked” acne vulgaris content on TikTok. We aimed to determine whether this remained true when broadening search parameters to include multiple acne-related hashtags in recently published content. Additionally, we sought to understand the diversity of acne-related content creators, the prevalence of promotional content, and the types of trending products showcased. A researcher input five of the top acne hashtags into TikTok to analyze the top 20 liked videos of each posted from 7/3/24 to 1/2/25. Analyzing these 100 acne-related videos, the majority were inspirational(51%) or promotional(41%), with few educational(8%). Minimal dermatologists (2%) or estheticians (8%) posted this content, as most (90%) was created by layman influencers. Black creators posted 7% of the content, while Hispanic creators posted 11%. Top treatments included niacinamide, salicylic acid, retinol, pimple patches, and diet change. Sunscreen discussions were rare (5%), with 80% of such content focused on international products. In late 2024, a low prevalence of educational content and top acne content was posted by dermatologists, a downward trend from what was found in past literature. Such findings suggest an opportunity for dermatologists to increase the promotion of reliable acne-related medical information on social media. Dermatologists should be aware of acne vulgaris content online to recognize trending information, products sought by online users, and treatments patients may receive outside of clinic. Aakash Arora¹, Megan Hoang¹, Victoria M. Hoffman², Alyssa Iurillo³, Nikitha Bhimireddy¹, Quinn Schroeder⁴, Ariyaporn Haripottawekul¹, Angela R. Loczi-Storm⁵, Rebecca Van Dyke⁵, Surya Khatri¹, Eliz Arnavut², Daniella Reimann⁶, Oliver Wisco^{1, 6} 1. Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI, United States. 2. Jacobs School of Medicine, Buffalo, NY, United States. 3. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States. 4. Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Meridian, ID, United States. 5. Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pomona, CA, United States. 6. Department of Dermatology, Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI, United States. Minoritized Populations and Health Disparities Research