ASHEVILLE, N.C. – , warned an expert at the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.
“If we don’t get involved, we are basically letting misinformation win. We need to be there,” said Angelo Landriscina, MD, director of dermatology at a Mount Sinai Doctors Clinic in New York.
Most of the content currently available on medical topics, including dermatology and pediatric dermatology, is not created by health care professionals, Dr. Landriscina noted. Not surprisingly, given that much of the content is based on personal opinion from individuals who have no expertise in medical care, he described the information as being of “low quality” when not fully erroneous.
Dr. Angelo Landriscina
Dr. Landriscina has been active on social media, including TikTok, for several years. Most of his posts involve responses to misinformation. When he sets the record straight on the basis of existing evidence, he often supports his counterargument with references.
He acknowledged that when he became involved in social media he faced criticism from colleagues about participating on an entertainment platform that many considered unworthy of providing objective information. If that was ever true, he argued, it is no longer the case.
“TikTok has adopted a new strategy. The goal is to unseat Google as a search tool, and it’s working,” he said. He explained that many people now use TikTok and other social media sites as their primary source of information on essentially every topic, from where to eat to whether to be screened for cancer.
The particular problem with TikTok – one of the most popular social media outlets – is that there is no mechanism for vetting the source of information. YouTube, by contrast, now requires some sort of validation for anyone who claims to have a medical degree or any other verifiable qualification, according to Dr. Landriscina. TikTok, like many other platforms, has no such requirement.
“Anyone can buy a pair of scrubs [implying expertise] and then post a video,” Dr. Landriscina said.
Even if information from one content provider is more valid than information from others, the TikTok algorithm is specifically designed to emphasize content that has the potential for going viral, which means it favors videos that are provocative over those that are not.
“The algorithm favors any content that is more controversial, more surprising, and keeps viewers engaged,” Dr. Landriscina pointed out.
This does not mean that objective and factual information is ignored, but the algorithm is indifferent to the validity of information, meaning that it allows videos to be posted without regard to whether the content is true, untrue, purposefully misleading, or utter nonsense. For that reason, it is often easier to attract attention by responding to a post that has already gone viral. Information that is clear and digestible can attract viewers and therefore is distributed more widely with the TikTok algorithm.