The broad reach and inaccuracy of men’s health information on social media: analysis of TikTok and Instagram

Abstract

Social media (SoMe) offers great potential to expand access to health information, but a significant proportion of users consume its content instead of consulting a physician. We sought to quantify the volume and characterize the accuracy of men’s health-related content on TikTok and Instagram. We searched TikTok and Instagram for the terms: testosterone, erectile dysfunction, male infertility, semen retention, Peyronie’s disease, and vasectomy. The top 10 hashtags for each term were used to estimate the total impressions for each term on each platform, and posts were then characterized by creator type, content type, and accuracy (1 to 5 scale). TikTok had 2,312,407,100 impressions and Instagram had 3,107,300 posts across all topics. Semen retention had the most impressions on TikTok (1,216,074,000) and posts on Instagram (1,077,000). Physicians created only a small portion of total TikTok and Instagram posts (10.3% and 12.9%, respectively). Across all topics, the accuracy of content was poor (2.6 ± 1.7), however, physician posts were more accurate than non-physician posts (mean 4.2 ± 1.2 vs 2.3 ± 1.6, p < 0.001, respectively). Men’s health content is popular on TikTok and Instagram but is not accurate. We recommend that physicians actively engage in SoMe to address misinformation.

Quality of erectile dysfunction information from ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots

“…The high quality of information and the lack of misinformation on ED from AI chatbots contrast with previous studies showing the prevalence of misinformation about ED on social media platforms [1,2]. This is reassuring as AI chatbots continue to rise in popularity.…”

“…This is reassuring as AI chatbots continue to rise in popularity. A previous study suggested that healthcare professionals should take an active role in curating educational material on social media to reduce the amount of circulating misinformation [2]. In our study, ED content from AI chatbots were cited from reputable hospital and AUA‐affiliated organisations.…”

“…Previous studies assessed the quality of medical information on erectile dysfunction (ED) from social media outlets like Tik Tok, YouTube, and Instagram. Despite these studies suggesting that ED information from social media is wide-reaching, actionable, and understandable, the content was of poor quality and had concerningly high amounts of inaccurate information [1,2]. However, less is known about the quality of information presented by commonly used artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.…”

Short-Term Changes in Vasectomy Consults and Procedures Following Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization

“…First, awareness of vasectomy has heightened as evidenced by Google searches for “vasectomy” that quadrupled following Dobbs , 10 and over 788 million TikTok views for #vasectomy. 11 Second, misconceptions regarding vasectomy may have been dispelled. Men inappropriately associate vasectomy with castration, testosterone deficiency, and sexual dysfunction.…”

“…Many patients also provided testimonials of their experience on social media which were accurate and had little risk of misinformation. 11 Third, Dobbs has potentially shifted perceptions that contraception is a woman’s responsibility. Consumer reports show that 80% of US males feel responsible for pregnancy prevention; interviews of men in the post- Dobbs area have echoed these statements.…”