Social Media’s Influence on Breast Augmentation

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate if and what social media use influences our patients' decisions to undergo breast augmentation. OBJECTIVES: A single-institution study was designed to evaluate women undergoing elective breast augmentation from 2017-2018. METHODS: Patients were contacted via validated, prompted telephone survey. Data regarding their demographic information and social media use pertaining to breast augmentation were collected after obtaining verbal consent. RESULTS: Inclusion criteria were met by 180 patients, of which 69% participated in the survey. Ninety-seven percent of the participants reported using social media in general; with the most common platforms being Facebook, Instagram, and the physician's website. The majority of social media usage was done by Millennials (97%) and Generation X (92%) and none of the baby boomers. Sixty-four percent of participants reported using some form of social media to research breast augmentation with the most common resource being Instagram. When analyzing the impact of the social media resources used by the participants, Instagram was reported as the most impactful at 54%. Only 18% of participants were using a physician's social media account to research breast augmentation. Among the 50% of patients who were using social media to compare their surgeon's work to another physician's, the majority (83%) were using the physician's website. CONCLUSIONS: Social media influences our patients' education and decisions to undergo breast augmentation, with Instagram being the most impactful. Our study evaluates our patient population to stay up-to-date on their social media usage and resources of education prior to breast augmentation.