Do you Need Viral Videos to be a Plastic Surgery Influencer?
Abstract
Introduction: Influencers entice potential consumers of a product or service by promoting them on social media. Continuous social media user growth on platforms like TikTok has led more physicians to become influencers who use social media to showcase their services to potential patients through highly engaging content, often hoping to create viral videos. This study analyzes the content produced by two groups of plastic surgeons, those popular on TikTok (Influencers, over 99,999 followers) and those who lack a large following (Casuals, 10,000 to 99,999 followers), to determine if viral or Before & After videos are associated with Influencer or Casual status.
Methods: Terms like "plastic surgeon" were used to search TikTok for accounts matching Influencer or Casual status. Excluded accounts met at least one of the following criteria: residency/fellowship programs, organizations, non-plastic surgeons, practicing outside of the U.S., or less than 10,000 followers. Viral and Before & After videos of included accounts were examined. Statistical analyses were performed using Jamovi software.
Results: 86.4% of Influencers (n = 44) and 62.1% of Casuals (n = 58) had viral videos with over a million views. 72.7% of Influencers had Before & After videos compared to 87.9% of Casuals. Most Before & After videos from Influencers focused on the Face while Casuals showcased mixed regions: Body, Breast, Face, and Hand/Extremity. Viral videos were significantly associated with Influencer status, while Before & After videos were insignificantly associated with Casual status.
Conclusion: It appears viral videos are not strictly required to be an Influencer but there is an association of those that do have them with Influencer status. Surprisingly, videos directly showing images before and after surgery are not associated with the most popular plastic surgeons. Instead, they are insignificantly associated with less popular plastic surgeons, suggesting these videos are not preferred on Influencer accounts.