Skin Tone Representation in Dermatologist Social Media Accounts

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.

Keywords: Fitzpatrick scale; Instagram; Twitter; YouTube; dermatology education; general dermatology; skin of color; skin tone; skin type; social media.