scholarly journals Impact of Social Media on Skin Cancer Prevention

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 5002
Author(s):  
Henriette De La Garza ◽  
Mayra B. C. Maymone ◽  
Neelam A. Vashi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Right ◽  
Media Interventions

Despite the increasing prevalence of social media usage in health care contexts, its impact on skin cancer prevention and awareness has not been largely investigated. We conducted a review of literature on this topic with the objective of summarizing and analyzing the role of social media in skin cancer and sun damage awareness and to identify the uses, benefits, and limitations of different social media platforms on skin cancer prevention. In today’s technological society, it is critical to understand and study the best form of communication. Specific platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok vary in originators of material, target demographics, messaging strategies, and reliability of information with regards to skin cancer, sun, and indoor tanning damage. Our results demonstrate that social media interventions have shown promise in skin cancer prevention and continue to escalate by the day. Dermatologists should keep pace with the latest dermatological content on social media and examine its evolution to target the right audience with the proper messages. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness and true impact of social media on meaningful and lasting behavior change for skin cancer prevention.

scholarly journals Corrigendum to “The Role of Antioxidants in Skin Cancer Prevention and Treatment”

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Godić ◽  
Borut Pojšak ◽  
Metka Adamič ◽  
Raja Gošnak Dahmane
Keyword(s):  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
Prevention And Treatment

scholarly journals The Reach of the “Don’t Fry Day” Twitter Campaign: Content Analysis

10.2196/14137 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. e14137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Nguyen ◽  
Lauren Gilbert ◽  
Lianne Priede ◽  
Carolyn Heckman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
National Council ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Self Interest

Background Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, disproportionately affecting young women. Since many young adults use Twitter, it may be an effective channel to communicate skin cancer prevention information. Objective The study aimed to assess the reach of the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention (NCSCP)’s 2018 Don’t Fry Day Twitter campaign, categorize the types of individuals or tweeters who engaged in the campaign, and identify themes of the tweets. Methods Descriptive statistics were used, and a content analysis of Twitter activity during the 2018 Don’t Fry Day campaign was conducted. The NCSCP tweeted about Don’t Fry Day and skin cancer prevention for 14 days in May 2018. Twitter contributors were categorized into groups. The number of impressions (potential views) and retweets were recorded. Content analysis was used to describe the text of the tweets. Results A total of 1881 Twitter accounts, largely health professionals, used the Don’t Fry Day hashtag, generating over 45 million impressions. These accounts were grouped into nine categories (eg, news or media and public figures). The qualitative content analysis revealed informative, minimally informative, and self-interest campaign promotion themes. Informative tweets involved individuals and organizations who would mention and give further context and information about the #DontFryDay campaign. Subthemes of the informative theme were sun safety, contextual, and epidemiologic information. Minimally informative tweets used the hashtag (#DontFryDay) and other types of hashtags but did not give any further context or original material in the tweets. Self-interest campaign promotion involved businesses, firms, and medical practices that would utilize and promote the campaign to boost their own ventures. Conclusions These analyses demonstrate the large potential reach of social media public health campaigns. However, limitations of such campaigns were also identified, for example, the relatively homogeneous groups actively engaged in the campaign. This study contributes to the understanding of the types of accounts and messages engaged in social media campaigns utilizing a hashtag, providing insight into the messages and participants that are effective and those that are not to achieve campaign goals. Further research on the potential impact of social media on health behaviors and outcomes is necessary to ensure wide-reaching implications.

scholarly journals Teens, Tweets, and Tanning Beds: Rethinking the Use of Social Media for Skin Cancer Prevention

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. S86-S94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley E. Falzone ◽  
Claire D. Brindis ◽  
Mary-Margaret Chren ◽  
Alexandra Junn ◽  
Sherry Pagoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
Tanning Beds ◽  
Use Of Social Media

scholarly journals What Can Twitter Tell Us about Skin Cancer Communication and Prevention on Social Media?

Dermatology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 236 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Vasconcelos Silva ◽  
Dilki Jayasinghe ◽  
Monika Janda
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
Cancer Communication ◽  
Prevention Interventions ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods ◽  
Protective Behaviours

Background: Skin cancer places a substantial burden on the health system in Australia. The modernisation of skin cancer prevention interventions by using social media may enhance their contemporary reach and relevance, especially among the youth. This study aimed to analyse Twitter posts in Australia to establish a baseline of skin cancer and sun-related communication trends. Methods: Tweets posted over the summer of 2018/2019 relating to relevant keywords and hashtags such as “slipslopslap” and “sunscreen” were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The number of tweets, related communication patterns, and possible factors for sudden changes in tweet volume were studied. Results: Results showed that Australians are using Twitter to communicate about their sun-related and skin cancer experiences and to share advice and information on this matter. Overall, Australians use Twitter more frequently to talk about sunscreen (number of tweets between December 2018 and February 2019 = 5,842) and/or skin cancer (n = 3,936), but not so often to communicate about other sun-protective behaviours (n = 1,972) or skin cancer prevention campaigns (n = 108). The number of tweets is greatly affected by the increase in temperature. Celebrities, non-health-related organisations with a high number of followers, and individuals sharing their own skin cancer experiences achieve a substantial number of likes and retweets and thus influence on Twitter regarding skin cancer-related communication. Conclusions: The results allow deeper understanding of important determinants for effective social media use for health promotion and public health messaging in the future. Linking tweets with temperature, sharing by celebrities or non-health-related organisations and individuals with a high following can all contribute to greater spread of skin cancer and sun-related messages.

scholarly journals The Reach of the “Don’t Fry Day” Twitter Campaign: Content Analysis (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Nguyen ◽  
Lauren Gilbert ◽  
Lianne Priede ◽  
Carolyn Heckman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
National Council ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Self Interest

BACKGROUND Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, disproportionately affecting young women. Since many young adults use Twitter, it may be an effective channel to communicate skin cancer prevention information. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to assess the reach of the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention (NCSCP)’s 2018 <italic>Don’t Fry Day</italic> Twitter campaign, categorize the types of individuals or tweeters who engaged in the campaign, and identify themes of the tweets. METHODS Descriptive statistics were used, and a content analysis of Twitter activity during the 2018 <italic>Don’t Fry Day</italic> campaign was conducted. The NCSCP tweeted about <italic>Don’t Fry Day</italic> and skin cancer prevention for 14 days in May 2018. Twitter contributors were categorized into groups. The number of impressions (potential views) and retweets were recorded. Content analysis was used to describe the text of the tweets. RESULTS A total of 1881 Twitter accounts, largely health professionals, used the <italic>Don’t Fry Day</italic> hashtag, generating over 45 million impressions. These accounts were grouped into nine categories (eg, news or media and public figures). The qualitative content analysis revealed informative, minimally informative, and self-interest campaign promotion themes. Informative tweets involved individuals and organizations who would mention and give further context and information about the #DontFryDay campaign. Subthemes of the informative theme were sun safety, contextual, and epidemiologic information. Minimally informative tweets used the hashtag (#DontFryDay) and other types of hashtags but did not give any further context or original material in the tweets. Self-interest campaign promotion involved businesses, firms, and medical practices that would utilize and promote the campaign to boost their own ventures. CONCLUSIONS These analyses demonstrate the large potential reach of social media public health campaigns. However, limitations of such campaigns were also identified, for example, the relatively homogeneous groups actively engaged in the campaign. This study contributes to the understanding of the types of accounts and messages engaged in social media campaigns utilizing a hashtag, providing insight into the messages and participants that are effective and those that are not to achieve campaign goals. Further research on the potential impact of social media on health behaviors and outcomes is necessary to ensure wide-reaching implications.

scholarly journals Associations Between Emotions, Social Media Use, and Sun Exposure Among Young Women: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Fitts Willoughby ◽  
Jessica Gall Myrick ◽  
Stephanie Gibbons ◽  
Clark Kogan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Cancer Prevention ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

BACKGROUND Research has pointed to a connection between social media use, emotions, and tanning behaviors. However, less is known about the role specific emotions may play in influencing social media use and how emotions and social media use may each be associated with outdoor tanning. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to examine the connection between emotions, social media use, and outdoor tanning behaviors among young women, a group particularly important for skin cancer prevention efforts. METHODS We used ecological momentary assessment to collect data from 197 women aged 18 to 25 years 3 times a day for 7 days in July 2018. We collected data from women in 2 states. RESULTS We found that boredom was associated with increased time spent on social media and that increased time spent on social media was associated with increased time spent outdoors without sun protection. CONCLUSIONS Our results highlight that social media may be a particularly important channel for skin cancer prevention efforts targeting young women, as more social media use was associated with increased time spent outdoors with skin exposed. Researchers should consider the role of emotions in motivating social media use and subsequent tanning behaviors. Additionally, as boredom was associated with social media use, intervention developers would benefit from developing digital and social media interventions that entertain as well as educate.

“It is more than just Sunscreen”: Analyzing skin cancer narratives on Instagram (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basma Gomaa ◽  
Rebecca Fagen Houghton ◽  
Nicole Crocker ◽  
Eric Walsh-Buhi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Skin Cancer ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Sun Exposure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Cancer Prevention ◽  
Cancer Risks ◽  
Cancer Society ◽  
Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND Skin cancer is among the deadliest forms of cancer in the United States. The American Cancer Society reported that 3 million skin cancer cases could be avoided every year if individuals are more aware of the risk factors related to sun exposure and other forms of prevention. Social media platforms may serve as potential intervention modalities that can be employed to raise public awareness of several diseases and health conditions, including skin cancer. Social media platforms are efficient, cost-effective tools for health-related content to reach a broad number of individuals who are already using the spaces in their day-to-day personal lives. In 2010, Instagram was launched, and it is now utilized by 1 billion users, of which 90% are under the age of 35 years. Despite previous research highlighting the potentiality of image-based platforms in skin cancer prevention and the popularity of Instagram to raise awareness, yet there is still a lack of studies describing skin cancer-related content on Instagram. OBJECTIVE The current study aims to describe skin cancer-related content on Instagram, including the origin (i.e., source characteristics) and attributes of these social media posts (i.e., content characteristics). The study also seeks to reveal content themes in terms of skin cancer risks, treatment, and prevention. METHODS Through Crowdtangle, a tool owned and operated by Facebook, which tracks engagement of the publicly available content on Facebook pages, subreddits, and Instagram accounts, we retrieved content from publicly available accounts on Instagram for the 30 days preceding May 14, 2021. Out of 1,000 posts reviewed, N=592 (59.2%) met the inclusion criteria and were human coded and analyzed. Two raters coded the posts independently. RESULTS Profiles representing organizations were slightly more common than individual accounts: n=321 vs 256 (54% vs 43%). The type of media included in the posts varied, with posts containing photos occurring more frequently (n=315, 53%), compared to posts containing infographics (n=233, 39%), or videos (n=85, 14%). Melanoma was the most mentioned type of skin cancer (n=252, 43%). Prevention methods were discussed in Instagram posts more often than risk factors (n=404, 68%) vs (n=271, 46%). Only 80 out of 592 posts (14%) provided a citation from a medical source. CONCLUSIONS This study’s findings highlight the potential role of Instagram as a platform for improving awareness of skin cancer risks and the benefits of prevention practices. We believe social media is the most promising venue for researchers and dermatologists to dedicate their efforts and presence in widely reaching the public to educate about skin cancer and empower prevention.

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