In this digital age it has become normal to seek out health related information online, in fact 83% of internet users do this (PewResearch 2011). There are pros and cons of this which the Swinburne module considered, some negatives being credibility of information, others positives being learning about procedures that can help that may not have been heard of through any other means.
What interests me however, is the prevalence of plastic surgery on social media. As an avid Instagram and newbie to TikTok, I am shocked at the number of before and after and live plastic surgery procedures online. Even as an adult who is quite confident in myself, some of the before and afters are so remarkable that they make you question how you can be improved. I can’t imagine being an impressionable teen being inundated with these videos.
One study showed that there are more than 180,000 cosmetic surgery videos available on YouTube, and interestingly of a sample of 1,000 videos, 60.9% were uploaded by cosmetic surgeons or clinics and 56.1% promoted cosmetic surgery by emphasizing its beneficial aspects (Nainan & Hao, 2015). There can be no doubt about it, digital platforms are absolutely being used to promote plastic surgery giving visibility to it that was previously behind closed doors.
Where this becomes particularly risky, is with the emergence of Instagram/TikTok famous cosmetic surgeons and the way in which they are able to draw in customers, without customers doing research as to the credibility or qualification of these surgeons. In Australia, two high profile Instagram and TikTok doctors with over 10 million followers between them, Dr Daniel Lanzer and Dr Daniel Aronov, have recently been banned / had restrictions on practicing because of safety breaches, and botched procedures (Sydney Morning Herald, 2021). It’s truly frightening to think of the sheer volume of customers that these doctors would have operated on given their marketing reach.
Personally, I think it’s important for people to be able to investigate or learn about health conditions, procedures or even plastic surgery, but I also believe that actively marketing plastic surgery procedures online requires more scrutiny.
References
Ferguson, A. (2021, November 29). TikTok celebrity cosmetic surgeon reprimanded by regulator. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/tiktok-celebrity-cosmetic-surgeon-reprimanded-by-regulator-20211129-p59d43.html
Nainan Wen, Stella C. Chia & Xiaoming Hao (2015) What Do Social Media Say About Makeovers? A Content Analysis of Cosmetic Surgery Videos and Viewers’ Responses on YouTube, Health Communication, 30:9, 933-942, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2014.913220