#CoreCosmeticSpecialties: An analysis of nonsurgical cosmetic procedure hashtags on Instagram

Objectives: In this study, we seek to characterize both the account credentials and content type for posts among the most popular nonsurgical cosmetic procedure hashtags on Instagram. Methods: Twenty-five hashtags related to nonsurgical cosmetic procedures were identified with over 250,000 posts each, ranging from 256,000 to 12.1 million posts per hashtag. The first 10 posts displayed under the “Top” section for each hashtag within Instagram, as sorted by Instagram's proprietary algorithm, were analyzed for account type and content type. Posts unrelated to the cosmetic procedure or with non-English captions were excluded. In total, 680 posts were queried with 250 posts meeting the inclusion criteria. Results: Content creators included nonphysician providers (68%), core cosmetic physicians (12%), noncore cosmetic physicians (8%), and consumers or others (13%). Content type included before and after (45%), self-promotional (23%), educational (17%), personal (5%), entertainment (5%), and promotional (5%). Among the different content creator types, core cosmetic physicians had the largest proportion of educational content at 38%. Conclusions: High-quality educational content on Instagram from core cosmetic specialties is scarce. By increasing their presence on Instagram, core cosmetic physicians can provide patient education, counteract misinformation, and raise awareness on training and qualifications regarding nonsurgical cosmetic procedures.