Infantile Hemangiomas in the Digital Age: A TikTok Discourse Analysis

Objectives: Since its emergence in the 1990s and rapid rise in popularity in the mid-2000s, social media has become an integral aspect of human interaction and has changed the way individuals consume information. The ubiquitous presence of social media has both positive and negative implications, particularly regarding information consumption and interpretation. Notably, social media platforms serve as crucial channels for health education, facilitating access to health care information through various mediums such as discussions, threads, and video content. This study focuses on TikTok, a widely used social media platform, to explore the discourse surrounding the most common benign vascular birthmark of infancy, infantile hemangiomas (IH), and its influence on perceptions and understanding of this vascular tumor. Methods: A total of 130 videos, sourced from the “top” category on TikTok using the hashtags #infantilehemangiomas and #hemangiomabirthmark , were analyzed. Parameters such as the source of information (parent, health care provider, etc), thematic content, description of the intended purpose, and number of likes were examined for each video. Results: These findings emphasize the predominance of parental contributions aimed at raising awareness and destigmatizing IH. Conclusion: This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of social media in shaping public discussion and knowledge dissemination regarding medical conditions like IH, the largest analysis to date.