Journal of Adolescent Health 72 (2023) 312
www.jahonline.org
Letter to the editor
TikTok and Its Importance in Monkeypox Public Health Engagement
To the Editors:
The current multi-country monkeypox (MPX) outbreak has
generated immense interest in the disease in the general popu-
lation, which has led to the use of the internet and social media
as sources of information about MPX, especially in adolescents
[1]. One of the most recent platforms to gain popularity is TikTok,
a social network with more than one billion monthly active
users, with more than 60% of them being aged less than 29 years.
Interestingly, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, only in the United States, more than 1,500 cases of MPX
cases have been reported in patients aged less than 25 years [2].
The widespread use of TikTok, particularly among adolescents,
has the potential to have both thoughtful advantages and serious
disadvantages. TikTok has been found useful in the adolescent
health field during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage bene-
ficial behavior modification [3] but also the spread of misinfor-
mation [4]. However, the content of TikTok about MPX on the
current outbreak is unknown.
Therefore, a search on TikTok was performed on September
13, 2022 to analyze the 100 most popular videos using the
“monkeypox” hashtag. Two independent reviewers classified
TikTok’s overall information as ‘useful,’ ‘misleading,’ or ‘neither,’
crossing-match the publications and guidelines from the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on comments
and a review of profiles, user accounts were classified based on
content into the following categories: independent users,
healthcare professionals, or others. Any discrepancies between
the authors were resolved through discussion until a consensus
was reached.
Our findings revealed the videos earmarked with the
“monkeypox” hashtag reached 4.3 billion views, 4.2 billion
likes, and 616,184 comments. The majority of videos (74%) were
uploaded by independent users and 18% of videos were filmed
by healthcare professionals. In addition, 26% were filmed by
young adult patients tracking their recovery journeys. Most
videos (53%) included provided serious information regarding
MPX, 45% included humorous/nonserious content, and only one
video (1%) displayed misinformation. Videos uploaded by
healthcare professionals were less likely to have views and
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no potential conflict of interest with
respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
1054-139X/Ó 2022 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.10.016
receive comments and likes compared to independent users
(p < .001).
Compared to the information provided about MPX in the
current outbreak, on other social networks like YouTube and
Twitter [1,5], TikTok content was more likely to provide useful
information, and misinformation was uncommon. The amount of
engagement found in this study highlights the platform’s huge
capacity to promote sharing; therefore, TikTok could be an
important platform for the dissemination of correct information
about MPX in the adolescent population and our findings suggest
the opportunity for healthcare professionals and institutions to
exert more influence over TikTok, especially in the current MPX
multinational outbreak.
Yeimer Ortiz-Martínez, M.D.
Department of Internal Medicine
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Bucaramanga, Colombia
Heysell M. Ortiz-Martínez, J.D.(s)
Programa de Derecho
Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas
Universidad del Atlántico
Barranquilla Colombia
References
[1] Ortiz-Martínez Y, Sarmiento J, Bonilla-Aldana DK, Rodríguez-Morales AJ.
Monkeypox goes viral: Measuring the misinformation outbreak on Twitter.
J Infect Dev Ctries 2022;16:1218e20.
[2] CDC. Monkeypox Cases by age and gender, race/ethnicity, and symptoms.
2022. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/
2022/demographics.html. Accessed September 14, 2022.
[3] Ostrovsky AM, Chen JR. TikTok and its Role in COVID-19 information prop-
agation. J Adolesc Health 2020;67:730.
[4] Baumel NM, Spatharakis JK, Karitsiotis ST, Sellas EI. Dissemination of mask
effectiveness misinformation using TikTok as a medium. J Adolesc Health
2021;68:1021e2.
[5] Ortiz-Martínez Y, Galvis-Cataño LM, Arias-Rodríguez D, et al. YouTube and
2022 monkeypox outbreak: Opportunities for awareness and infection
control. J Hosp Infect 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2022.07.007.