Paradkar KA, Kaffenberger JA. Skin Tone Representation in Dermatologist Social Media Accounts.
J Clin Aesthet Dermatol 2022;
15:40-42. [PMID:
36381184 PMCID:
PMC9651156]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Skin conditions manifest differently on darker skin tones, yet lighter skin tones are usually overrepresented in dermatology educational resources. Our aim was to explore the representation of skin tones within dermatology social media posts in 2019.
METHODS
This is a retrospective review of posts made on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter by the top 2019 dermatology social media influencers. Twenty-one accounts were included. Eight posts were randomly chosen per account and graded by the Fitzpatrick scale (I-VI).
RESULTS
Overall, Fitzpatrick Type II was the most represented skin type (53%), while Fitzpatrick Type VI was the least represented (0%). On Instagram, 79.7 percent of posts represented light skin tones (Fitzpatrick Types I-III) and 20.3 percent represented dark skin tones (Fitzpatrick Types IV-VI). On YouTube, 93.75 percent of posts represented light skin tones and 6.25 percent represented dark skin tones. On Twitter, 73.2 percent of posts represented light skin tones and 26.8 percent represented dark skin tones.
LIMITATIONS
This study is limited by the subjective nature of assigning Fitzpatrick skin types and by only analyzing posts from dermatology social media influencers in 2019.
CONCLUSION
Within the analyzed posts, darker skin tones were represented less frequently than lighter skin tones; we encourage a wider range of skin tone representation within educational resources.
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