TikTok as a Source of Health Information and Misinformation for Young Women in the United States: Survey Study (Preprint)

Abstract

TikTok is one of the most-used and fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, and recent reports indicate it has become an increasingly popular source of news and information in the United States. These trends have important implications for public health, as an abundance of health information exists on the platform. Women are among the largest group of TikTok users in the United States and may especially be affected by the dissemination of health information on TikTok. Prior research has shown that women are not only more likely to look for information on the Internet but are also more likely to have their health-related behaviors and perceptions affected by their involvement with social media.

We conducted a survey of young women in the United States to better understand their use of TikTok for health information, as well as their perceptions of TikTok’s health information and health communication sources.

An online survey of U.S. women aged 18 to 29 (N=1,172) was conducted between April and May of 2023. The sample was recruited from a Qualtrics Research Panel and two public universities in the United States.

The results indicate that the majority of young women in the United States who have used TikTok have gotten health information from the platform either intentionally (65.50%; 672/1026) or unintentionally (92.40%; 948/1026). Age (r(959)=.30, P<.001), education (rho(959)=.10, P=.001), and TikTok intensity (ie, their emotional connectedness to TikTok and TikTok’s integration into their daily lives) (r(959)=.32, P<.001) were positively correlated with credibility perceptions of the health information. Nearly the entire sample reported that they think misinformation is prevalent on TikTok to at least some extent (98.15%, 1007/1026), but a third-person effect was found as the young women reported that they believe other people are more susceptible to health misinformation on TikTok than they personally are (t(1025) =21.16, P<.001). Both health professionals and general users were common sources of health information on TikTok, as 93.08% (955/1026) indicated they had gotten health information from a health professional and 93.86% (963/1026) indicated they had gotten health information from a general user. The respondents showed greater preference for health information from health professionals (vs. general users) (t(1025)=23.75, P<.001); respondents also reported getting health information from health professionals more often than from general users (t(1025)=8.13, P<.001) and were more likely to act on health information from health professionals (vs. general users), t(1025)=12.74, P<.001.

The findings suggest health professionals and health communication scholars need to proactively consider TikTok as a platform for disseminating health information to young women. Young women are obtaining health information from TikTok and prefer information from health professionals, making it worthwhile for TikTok to be utilized as a strategic communication tool.