Alopecia Areata and Pattern Hair Loss (Androgenetic Alopecia) on Social Media – Current Public Interest Trends and Cross-Sectional Analysis of YouTube and TikTok Contents

January 2023 in “ Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology ”

Anik Gupta, Shruthi Ravi, Tong Wang

alopecia areata pattern hair loss androgenetic alopecia TikTok YouTube dermatologists AA PHL

TLDR Alopecia areata gained more interest on social media than pattern hair loss, with TikTok showing more personal stories and YouTube offering higher quality educational content.

The study analyzed public interest and content quality on alopecia areata (AA) and pattern hair loss (PHL) on TikTok and YouTube, finding that AA had higher search interest, especially in 2022 due to cultural events and new treatments. TikTok content on AA, mainly personal stories by female patients, had more engagement than PHL content, which was mostly educational. On YouTube, healthcare providers produced higher quality and more accurate educational content, with AA videos often by females and PHL by males. The study highlights the need for dermatologists to engage with these platforms to improve patient communication, noting concerns about undisclosed sponsorships in promotional videos and the impact of popular culture on public interest.

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