April 23, 2024 – TikTok ban in the U.S. is becoming more of an “if” than a “when” as the 170 million Americans who use the social media app have other options. You will be looking for. It would also eliminate the community of medical professionals who use the platform to share legitimate health information and advice with their followers.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week on a bill that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance up to a year to sell the company or it would be outlawed in the U.S. President Joe Biden He has indicated his intention to sign the bill into law.
If TikTok goes dark, the work of the people who have made it the go-to site for expert- and user-generated videos on a variety of consumer health topics could become unavailable.
TikTok „has had a positive effect on public awareness and has enabled creative approaches to get this information to hard-to-reach audiences. This is a win,“ said George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences professor and professor at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. said Adam Friedman, MD, professor of dermatology. .
And many worry that in the absence of good, accurate information, those who provide misinformation will fill the gap.
Switch to other social media?
„If TikTok is no longer able to operate in the U.S., young people will likely find new platforms to fill the gap, but it's not clear how they'll do that,“ said Laura, an associate professor of public health at Purdue University in the West. says Dr. Schwab Reese. Lafayette, Indiana studies the impact of TikTok Reproductive health information, Sexual assault counseling, more.
„My research shows that the most viewed TikTok videos with hashtags related to sexual/reproductive health and sexual violence generally contain high-quality, reliable, and engaging information. We found out that there are,“ Schwab-Reese said.
Dr Claire Wardle predicted that most of the content currently on TikTok is likely to migrate to Instagram Reels. Founder and Co-Director of the Institute for the Future of Information at Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island. YouTube is also often cited as a potential new home for TikTok users.
“I wish there were other places for young people to get accurate information, but that's not the case right now.” She added, “Young people really like sites that support user-generated content.” I did.
An advantage that may be lost with TikTok's discontinuation is that it allows users to „normalize“ other people's medical and health conditions. „TikTok is a place for people to share their first-hand experiences, which helps destigmatize medicine and health issues,“ Wardle said. „Then you'll be losing money.“
Positive mental health support
TikTok „does a great job of highlighting people's lived experiences and different perspectives. We've seen important conversations about mental health take place on the site. '' Wardle said.
And it's not just the users. For example, Cleveland Clinic partnered with the National Institute of Mental Health in October 2023 to share authoritative mental health information on TikTok.Posts include Problematic signs of depressionhow people with high functioning anxiety disorder Often there are no external signs, but Migraines and other headaches.
„Mental health is a serious issue, and we know that online searches for this topic are on the rise, especially among young people,“ Dr. Leo Pozuello, director of psychology and psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic, said on TikTok. said in a statement released. “Therefore, it is important that people have access to trusted health information on various platforms, including TikTok.”
“I encourage anyone who is having trouble finding information from reliable sources to not be afraid to seek help from their health care provider,” Pozuello said.
Many may be shut out
If most TikTok users continue to seek out new platforms, it may be difficult for legitimate health and medical information content creators to predict which ones will become most popular, Schwab Reese said. He said he could not. As a result, „there may be a delay between user adoption and access to high-quality health information.“
If TikTok goes offline, it could lead to a mass migration elsewhere online.
Millions of Americans now obtain medical and health information from TikTok. For example, 2.2 million people follow family physician Mikhail Varshavsky, aka “Dr.” Mike,” and 8.4 million people follow plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Yoon.
Misinformation will not go unnoticed
While TikTok's demise will likely resurface elsewhere, one thing it won't mourn is misinformation about health and medicine.
„We have some great doctors and nurses doing great work on the platform, creating videos and commenting on other videos,“ Wardle said. “But we have to admit that there is also a lot of content out there that has not been fact-checked by medical experts.”
„We have seen dangerous misinformation on topics such as oral contraceptives, skin care and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),“ Wardle added.
Also, because of how TikTok's algorithm works, „once a user interacts with content that contains misinformation, they will see more of that content,“ Schwab-Reese said.
Friedman agreed that misinformation continues to plague TikTok. Although many of his dermatology physician colleagues use his TikTok to share valuable information, „I feel that the harm from misinformation outweighs the good that many of my colleagues have achieved.“ ”
He suggested that consumers refer to other reliable sources such as: American Academy of Dermatology Association A website providing a wide range of guidance on skin conditions and skin health. He also recommended sites for organizations that specialize in specific conditions. National Eczema Association, National Psoriasis Foundationor HS connect For example, for those who want to learn more about hidradenitis suppurativa.