Acne and TikTok: What Do Dermatologists Need to Know?

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Across the world, TikTok has over 1.04 billion active users each month.¹ 44.7% of these users are among Gen Z.² With the overwhelming amount of medical and non-medical treatments for acne, young patients often turn to social media to seek information from lived experiences. Because of this, the spread of misinformation is a concern in the clinical space.

The hashtag #acne currently has over 3 million posts and 129 billion views. A new review analyzed the top content related to acne on TikTok and found that a medically driven, patient-centered approach, can encourage patients to seek proper treatment and thus, halt the spread of misinformation.³

“These findings illuminate critical opportunities for healthcare professionals to step back and truly understand the patient's perspective, offering a pathway to bridge the gap between clinical expertise and the lived experiences of those navigating acne in the digital age,” the authors wrote.

The in-depth, thematic, qualitative analysis looked at the top 150 consecutive videos under the hashtag as of September 2023, which collectively had 2 billion views and 102 million followers. Most of the content was uploaded by females (84%) and about 14% of the videos explicitly endorsed a product, like isotretinoin.

Investigators quantitatively measured video lengths, views, comments, likes, and shares, to determine popularity. The videos ranged between 5 seconds and 5 minutes, but the average video length was 33 seconds. They also used the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research(SRQR) guidelines to further review the clips.

The type of content was categorized into 5 themes. The breakdown is as follows;

• Educational resources about acne (34%)
• Transformations and success stories from patients who previously had acne (24%)
• Satisfying pimple popping clips (17%)
• Videos that normalize acne and promote skin positivity (13%)
• Content that exposes the negative reality and burdens of living with acne (11%)

Pimple-popping videos had the most views with 804 million views, 176,000 comments, and almost 88,000 shares. These clips were typically longer than 1 minute, had trending music in the background, and were usually posted by trained aestheticians extracting comedones and cysts.

Acne education videos had 324 million views and were created by both patients and clinical professionals. These included dietary “hacks,” personal success stories, or alternative non-medically endorsed treatments, all provided in a persuasive manner. However, only 11% of the videos under #acne were posted by clinicians.

Acne transformations had approximately 440 million views. This content typically featured before-and-after photos and focused heavily on how insecure the person felt when their acne was more intense. Conversely, videos promoting acne positivity and acceptance had 160 million views. This type of emotional content builds community and encourages others to be “brave” about their normal struggles with acne.

Finally, videos demonstrating the harsh reality and mental health burden of acne were the least popular of the 5 categories, with 79 million views. Users in this category were commonly frustrated with societal stigma and the condition of their skin, especially after trying multiple treatment regimens.

With these results, the researchers recommended dermatologists promote healthy and evidence-based skincare practices to counteract any misinformation being spread online. If they do choose to engage on TikTok and post their own content, they must do so in a patient-centered way that aligns with the algorithm for maximum reach and effectively refers to other resources and links to build credibility.

“Medical education on social media led by dermatologists is not just an opportunity; it is a call to action to transform the way acne care is approached in the digital age,” the authors concluded.

References

1. Gantenbein L, Navarini AA, Maul LV, Brandt O, Mueller SM. Internet and social media use in dermatology patients: Search behavior and impact on patient-physician relationship. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(6):e14098. doi:10.1111/dth.14098

2. eMarketer, “Gen Z Leads the Pack on Snapchat, TikTok,” accessed March 3, 2025, https://www.emarketer.com/content/gen-z-leads-pack-on-snapchat-tiktok.

3. Iyengar L, Saldanha S, Chong AH. #Acne: A Thematic Qualitative Analysis of Acne Content on TikTok. Australas J Dermatol. Published online February 26, 2025. doi:10.1111/ajd.14433