Teens, tweets, and tanning beds: Rethinking the use of social media for skin cancer prevention

Unlike Australia, the USA has not banned tanning beds for commercial use. This review examines the psychosical influences on indoor tanning in young adults and how technology and social media can be used to help skin cancer prevention; especially as more than 70% of teens frequently use social media platforms. The review highlights the opportunities for social media use in primary care. In particular, as adolescents have infrequent primary care visits, social media is a potential tool to keep adolescents engaged with their primary care givers. The review suggests social media should be be used to provide prevention messages as well as restricting advertising by the tanning industry. Overall, social media was found to be an under-utilized and under-studied tool and that collaboration between technology makers, social media companies and public health advocates is essential to help drive its use in skin cancer prevention and reduction.   Read the full article here.