Accessibility settings

This paper is in the following e-collection/theme issue:

Research Letter (197) Medicine 2.0: Social Media, Open, Participatory, Collaborative Medicine (2675) Infodemiology and Infoveillance (2006) Quality/Credibility of eHealth Information and Trust Issues (942) Skin Cancer and Melanoma Prevention (166) World Wide Web and Social Media in Dermatology (104)

Published on in Vol 9 (2026)

Preprints (earlier versions) of this paper are available at https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/79250, first published .
Woman holding a smartphone and touching her neck, looking concerned

What’s Trending: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Content and Quality of Popular Melanoma Videos on TikTok

What’s Trending: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Content and Quality of Popular Melanoma Videos on TikTok

Authors of this article:

Nazaneen Saleh1 Author Orcid Image ;   Alexa Rahaman2 Author Orcid Image ;   Emily Siegel1 Author Orcid Image
Article Authors Cited by Tweetations Metrics

    1Rush Medical College, Rush University Medical Center, 1620 W Harrison St, Chicago, IL, United States

    2School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States

    Corresponding Author:

    Nazaneen Saleh, BA


    In this cross-sectional analysis of popular melanoma-related TikTok videos, physician-created, educational, and longer videos were associated with higher information quality and audience engagement, although overall DISCERN scores remained low and treatment guidance was frequently absent, highlighting opportunities to improve comprehensive, physician-led melanoma education on social media.

    JMIR Dermatol 2026;9:e79250

    doi:10.2196/79250

    Keywords

    dermatology; melanoma; social media; TikTok; trends 


    Background

    As social media continues to integrate into daily life, platforms like TikTok, which now exceeds 1.8 billion users, create opportunities to efficiently share engaging health information [1]. While this can enhance health literacy, it also raises concerns about misinformation.

    TikTok has become a popular platform for dermatology content, with both physicians and nonexperts sharing advice. Given the 42% rise in invasive melanoma cases in the United States from 73,870 cases in 2015 to 104,960 estimated cases in 2025, health literacy and early detection are increasingly important for improving survival [2-4]. The dermatology literature has gaps in analyzing the widespread utilization of TikTok videos for delivering educational health information. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining melanoma-specific videos on TikTok.

    Objective

    This study aims to analyze the content and quality of popular melanoma-related videos on TikTok.


    TikTok was queried using the hashtags #melanoma, #metastaticmelanoma, and #skincancer on two pre-existing accounts. In total, 32 videos were collected by two authors in September 2024 and independently evaluated by dermatology residents and attendings at Rush University (Chicago, United States) using the DISCERN tool, a validated measure for assessing consumer health information [5]. The DISCERN questionnaire is divided into 3 parts: reliability of the publication (questions 1-8), quality of information about treatment options (questions 9-15), and the overall score of the publication (question 16). Each item is rated on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). An adjusted DISCERN score was calculated by averaging only the reliability-related items (questions 1‐8), since 28 of the 32 videos lacked treatment content. Only one video per TikTok creator was considered and every video was reviewed by both authors to ensure no repeated videos.


    The content creators of the 32 videos consisted of physicians (n=18, 56%), nonphysicians (n=11, 34%), private companies (n=2, 6%), and organizations (n=1, 3%) (Table 1). Among the 18 physician creators, the majority were dermatologists (13/18, 72%). The mean DISCERN score across all videos was 2.08, highlighting the overall need for improved quality in melanoma-related content on TikTok. When treatment-related questions were excluded, the adjusted DISCERN score rose to 2.68, indicating that guidance on treatment is frequently lacking.

    Table 1. Summary of TikTok video characteristics, quality scores, and engagement metrics.
    Category and subgroupNumber of videos, N=32 (%)Mean DISCERN scoreMean adjusted DISCERN scoreMean number of likesMean number of savesMean number of shares
    Content creator type
    Physician18 (56)2.32.9817,49929061525
    Dermatology13/18 (72)2.142.8717,75323881428
    Internal medicine2/18 (11)2.193.1340,65010,5004351
    Emergency medicine1/18 (6)3.694.3818898595
    Oncology1/18 (6)2.442.566116783
    Surgery1/18 (6)2.943.25357167
    Nonphysiciana11 (34)1.792.3665151025361
    Private companyb2 (6)2.192.44899727291155
    Nonprofit organizationc1 (3)1.191.382518994165
    Video length
    <1 minute17 (53)2.012.573973768313
    >1 minute15 (47)2.152.8122,64237991906
    Video type
    Anecdotal7 (22)1.722.135813584320
    Educational25 (78)2.182.8414,65926381267

    aNonphysician: personal TikTok accounts run by any individuals who were not physicians.

    bPrivate company: accounts promoting or selling products with a for-profit purpose.

    cNonprofit organization: organization affiliated with Oregon Health & Science University Dermatology (Start Seeing Melanoma).


    The analysis of content creators revealed that among the 18 physician creators, a significant majority (n=13, 72%) were dermatologists. This was expected as dermatology is the specialty with the most training in diagnosing and treating melanoma. However, the mean DISCERN score for videos created by dermatologists was 2.19, compared to 3.69 for emergency medicine physicians, indicating a general need for improved quality in melanoma-related content on TikTok regardless of physician training. Notably, when treatment-related questions were excluded, the adjusted DISCERN score increased from 2.08 across all videos to 2.68, suggesting that there is a frequent absence of guidance regarding treatment options in the content. Enhancing content with accurate, treatment-focused information may improve health literacy among viewers.

    Physician-created videos outperformed those by nonphysicians in both quality (DISCERN: 2.3 vs 1.79, respectively; adjusted: 2.98 vs 2.36, respectively) and audience engagement metrics (mean number of likes: 17,499 vs 6515, respectively). This underscores the importance of professional involvement in online health education. Similarly, videos longer than one minute scored higher than shorter ones (DISCERN: 2.15 vs 2.01; adjusted: 2.81 vs 2.57), and educational videos outperformed anecdotal content (DISCERN: 2.18 vs 1.72; adjusted: 2.84 vs 2.13). Longer and educational videos also showed greater audience engagement. Together, these findings suggest that TikTok’s short-form format does not inherently disadvantage content that prioritizes explanation and educational intent. Rather than implying viewer preference for longer videos, the observed associations indicate that informational clarity and depth can coexist with algorithm-driven visibility on the platform.

    Limitations include the study’s cross-sectional design, use of only three hashtags, platform-specific sample, and inability to verify creator credentials. Additionally, TikTok’s proprietary search algorithm may affect the visibility and discoverability of videos among different users, introducing an element of unpredictability. Lastly, the DISCERN tool was originally developed to assess written health information and may not fully capture the unique elements of video-based content. Future research should explore tools tailored to assess video content and investigate strategies for optimizing physician-led education on social media platforms.

    Funding

    The authors declared no financial support was received for this work.

    Conflicts of Interest

    None declared.

    1. TikTok says it has passed 1 billion users. The Verge. 2021. URL: https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/27/22696281/tiktok-1-billion-users [Accessed 2024-10-05]
    2. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2015. CA A Cancer J Clinicians. Jan 2015;65(1):5-29. [CrossRef]
    3. Siegel RL, Kratzer TB, Giaquinto AN, Sung H, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2025. CA Cancer J Clin. 2025;75(1):10-45. [CrossRef] [Medline]
    4. Jerant AF, Johnson JT, Sheridan CD, Caffrey TJ. Early detection and treatment of skin cancer. Am Fam Physician. Jul 15, 2000;62(2):357-368. [Medline]
    5. Charnock D, Shepperd S, Needham G, Gann R. DISCERN: an instrument for judging the quality of written consumer health information on treatment choices. J Epidemiol Community Health. Feb 1999;53(2):105-111. [CrossRef] [Medline]

    Edited by Eva Parker; submitted 17.Jun.2025; peer-reviewed by Nicola Döring, Samantha Bestavros; final revised version received 28.Dec.2025; accepted 31.Dec.2025; published 25.Aug.2026.

    Copyright

    © Nazaneen Saleh, Alexa Rahaman, Emily Siegel. Originally published in JMIR Dermatology (http://derma.jmir.org), 25.Aug.2026.

    This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Dermatology, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://derma.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.