Trending on Pinterest: an examination of pins about skin tanning

The New Media Landscape and Its Effects on Skin Cancer Diagnostics, Prognostics, and Prevention: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

The wide availability of web-based sources, including social media (SM), has supported rapid, widespread dissemination of health information. This dissemination can be an asset during public health emergencies; however, it can also present challenges when the information is inaccurate or ill-informed. Of interest, many SM sources discuss cancer, specifically cutaneous melanoma and keratinocyte cancers (basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma).

OBJECTIVE

Through a comprehensive and scoping review of the literature, this study aims to gain an actionable perspective of the state of SM information regarding skin cancer diagnostics, prognostics, and prevention.

METHODS

We performed a scoping literature review to establish the relationship between SM and skin cancer. A literature search was conducted across MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus from January 2000 to June 2023. The included studies discussed SM and its relationship to and effect on skin cancer.

RESULTS

Through the search, 1009 abstracts were initially identified, 188 received full-text review, and 112 met inclusion criteria. The included studies were divided into 7 groupings based on a publication's primary objective: misinformation (n=40, 36%), prevention campaign (n=19, 17%), engagement (n=16, 14%), research (n=12, 11%), education (n=11, 10%), demographics (n=10, 9%), and patient support (n=4, 3%), which were the most common identified themes.

CONCLUSIONS

Through this review, we gained a better understanding of the SM environment addressing skin cancer information, and we gained insight into the best practices by which SM could be used to positively influence the health care information ecosystem.

Melanoma predilection for the lower limbs of women compared with men

The lower limb is a common site for melanoma in women, but the reason for this is not fully understood. To investigate this phenomenon in more detail, we assessed the specific subsites of primary melanoma occurring on the lower limbs of females compared with males across age groups. In a records-based study at an oncology hospital in north-west of England, among an unselected sample of patients with primary invasive melanoma treated between 2002-2015, information was collected on patient age at diagnosis, sex, and co-morbidities, and the tumor thickness and anatomical subsite (thigh, lower leg, foot for lower limb). Of a total sample of 1,522 patients, 316 (227, 72% female) had lower limb melanoma. The most common subsite was lower leg (142 cases with F:M ratio =3.74), followed by thigh (55 cases with F:M = 1.83) and feet (30 cases with F:M = 1.15). At ages <40 years the odds of thigh to foot melanoma was 20 times higher in females than in males (OR 20.0, 95% CI 2.6-152.6) and 7.5 times higher on the lower limb (OR 7.5, 95% CI 1.1-49.2). For ages 40+ years, the odds of females developing thigh melanoma compared to foot melanoma was similar in males versus females (OR 0.8), while the corresponding odds of lower leg melanoma in females versus males remained significantly increased at ages 40-59 and 60+ (OR 4.2 and 2.8 respectively). Our study demonstrates the female predilection for lower limb melanoma persists over most but not all subsites.However, there is heterogeneity in the female to male occurence of lower limb melanoma across subsites and at different ages, which may be linked to relative influence of genetic and environmental risk factors.

The Effects of Embedded Skin Cancer Interventions on Sun-Safety Attitudes and Attention Paid to Tan Women on Instagram

Background and Objectives

Because of high skin cancer risks for young women, it is vital that effective interventions reach and influence this demographic. Visual social media platforms, like Instagram, are popular with young women and are an appropriate intervention site; yet, they also host competing images idealizing tan skin. The present study tested the ability of digital sun-safety interventions to affect self-control-related emotions and visual attention to subsequent tan-ideal images as well as sun-safety attitudes.

Methods

Women were recruited from a large public Mid-Atlantic university in the United States. Participants (N = 120) were randomly assigned to view an appearance benefits intervention, a self-control emotions intervention, or a control message, each designed to look like an Instagram sponsored story. After self-reporting self-compassion and anticipated pride, participants then viewed seven pairs of Instagram posts featuring either tan or pale women while an eye tracker assessed visual attention. Finally, participants self-reported their responses to questions assessing sun-safety-related norms, efficacy, and attitudes.

Results

A mixed design analysis of covariance revealed that women who first viewed the appearance benefits intervention story spent less time visually fixated on Instagram images of tan women than did those who viewed the self-control emotions intervention or control message (p = 0.005, ηp2 = 0.087). Regressions also revealed interactions between the intervention conditions and feelings of anticipated pride on both visual attention and sun-safety attitudes.

Conclusion

Sponsored stories on Instagram can promote sun-safety attitudes, depending on the emotional responses they generate. Additionally, sponsored interventions can affect subsequent visual attention.

Content Analysis of Skin Cancer Screenings on Pinterest: An Exploratory Study

Skin cancer rates are rising in the United States, yet screening rates remain low. Meanwhile, social media has evolved to become a primary source of health information, with 40% of daily users of Pinterest reporting the platform as a “go-to” source. The objective of this research paper is to examine how skin cancer screenings were portrayed on Pinterest. Using the search terms “skin cancer screening” and “skin cancer exam”, researchers sampled every fifth pin to collect 274 relevant pins. Two researchers coded the pins, and interrater agreement was established at 94%. The results showed that twenty-two percent of the sample depicted skin cancer screening in a negative way, yet 41.5% noted that early detection leads to better outcomes. The pins were geared toward younger, white women with minimal depiction of people of color. Few pins included comprehensive information about skin cancer risk factors, importance of routine self-screenings, or what to expect with a medical provider. Fifty-eight percent of pins included links to personal blogs. In conclusion, social media has become a powerful source of health information, yet much of the posted information is incomplete. These findings present public health experts with an opportunity to disseminate more comprehensive skin cancer screening information on social media.

What Can Pinterest Do for Radiology?

The rapid growth of social media over the last decade soon convinced businesses including medical practices and academic medical centers to enter the social media fray-for profit, education, and expanding access. Launched in 2010, Pinterest (San Francisco, CA, USA) differed from many of the established social media platforms by presenting collection and curation features based on the sharing of images rather than text. Thus, Pinterest allows users to categorize website links using photos, GIFs, and videos, and catalog them for future consideration, saved on a virtual folder or "pinboard." Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are text-heavy social media platforms that do not allow for significant curating activities. Instagram, the other of the two primary photo-oriented social media giants, was launched the same year as Pinterest. Owned by Facebook, Instagram caters to a more personal experience and mostly relies on mobile technology. Because Pinterest users are mainly focused on finding and collecting other users' content, Pinterest is thought to generate website traffic and is more conducive to use on larger screens. It further distinguishes itself by encouraging appreciation/learning over self-promotion and its range of categories exceeds that of other such sites. Some of the more visually oriented medical specialties (i.e., dermatology, plastic surgery, and radiology) have begun to consider what role, if any, the popular site Pinterest, with more than 250 million monthly users, might play in disseminating healthy messages, reaching patients, and contributing to medical education. We investigated how Pinterest could work for our radiology education mission and then decided to establish a presence on the site to ascertain if creating our own board would have any practical benefits.

Understanding sunscreen and photoprotection misinformation on parenting blogs: A mixed-method study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Sun exposure during childhood is a modifiable risk factor for skin cancer. Social media (including parenting blogs) represent promising platforms for understanding misinformation about pediatric photoprotection. This study's objective was to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the digital social context of parenting blogs that shape parents' decisions about children's photoprotection.

METHODS

Mixed-method analysis was conducted of the 25 most popular parenting blogs in the USA, including 56 blog posts addressing photoprotection and 2661 comments. An inductive method was used to code and identify key themes associated with blog post categorization as sunscreen-encouraging, -discouraging, and -ambivalent. The qualitative analysis program NVivo was used to calculate descriptive statistics for comment codes based on co-occurrence with blog post category.

RESULTS

Sunscreen-discouraging posts addressed natural remedies, sunscreen recipes, and vitamin D. Sunscreen-encouraging posts focused on skin cancer and protective clothing. Sunscreen-ambivalent posts were associated with scientific studies. Sunscreen-discouraging posts received more comments (mean 124) than encouraging (31) or ambivalent posts (8). Discouraging (65%) and ambivalent posts (75%) cited scientific literature more often than encouraging posts (14%). Comments were twice as likely to discourage photoprotection as to encourage it (1340 vs 447 comments).

CONCLUSIONS

Parenting blogs are a substantial resource of both information and misinformation on pediatric photoprotection. However, misinformation receives substantially more engagement. The themes revealed in this study may help physicians and public health officials in developing interventions to target misinformation around pediatric photoprotection.

Social media in dermatology: clinical relevance, academic value, and trends across platforms

Social media encompasses multiple sites for online communication that reach a large proportion of the global population. While the increase in number of publications investigating dermatology content on social media has paralleled the growth of social media in the past decade, there has not yet been an extensive review of past literature on this topic. Our objective is to summarize and analyze publications on the role of social media within the field of dermatology. Social media is frequently used by patients to solicit advice related to cutaneous concerns and even when seeking out a dermatologist, but it is underutilized among both clinicians marketing their practices and academicians collaborating with colleagues in the field. Social media has the potential to advance instruction for trainees in dermatology and facilitate new research methods. Patient-centered perspectives and advocacy groups have a larger presence overall on social media platforms than stakeholders in academic dermatology. Furthermore, specific platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter vary in originators of material, messaging strategies, and reliability of information with regards to certain dermatologic conditions and behaviors.