Kids These Days: Social Media's Influence on Adolescent Behaviors

Abstract

We live in an electronic world with near-ubiquitous access to smartphones and social media. One consequence of this new reality is that children and teenagers may be unduly swayed by social media influencers who promote skincare products and practices, colloquially referred to as "skinfluencers," and enjoy unfettered access to emerging trends-not all of which lead to positive results. Herein, we describe two cases of adolescents presenting to a pediatric dermatology department after trying different beauty trends endorsed by social media influencers. The first patient developed allergic contact dermatitis to "snail slime" (96% Snail Secretion Filtrate; COSRX), a popular over-the-counter skincare product that has received notable attention on social media platforms due to its purported skin hydrating effects. The second patient presented urgently due to her mother's concerns of "overnight moles," which, in fact, the patient had acquired after applying makeup using a social media-endorsed "freckle stamp." Clinicians should be aware of these emerging trends to properly educate, manage, and treat patients susceptible to their influence-especially within the particularly impressionable teenage population.

Keywords: Henna; Social media; TikTok; contact dermatitis; eruptive moles; freckle stamp; freckles; influencers; makeup; snail mucin.

FIGURE 1.

At-home “selfie” photograph of adolescent patient demonstrating marked erythema and edema of lips after applying “snail slime” (96% Snail Secretion Filtrate; COSRX, Seoul, South Korea).

FIGURE 2.

Dermatological exam of same patient showing eczematous, scaly changes consistent with contact dermatitis.

FIGURE 3.

Adolescent female presenting with eruptive “moles” at initial pediatric dermatology appointment.

FIGURE 4.

Example of “freckle stamp” device available online for creating henna tattoo freckles