#AoIR2024 Industry

Presentation 1
 
Social Media as a Key Actor in Redefining Healthcare Industry Dynamics
Beatrice Tylstedt⁽¹⁾, Hannah L. Westwood⁽²⁾, Krysten Stein⁽³⁾, Deanna Holroyd⁽⁴⁾
1: Uppsala University; 2: Coventry University; 3: University of Illinois at Chicago; 4: The Ohio State University
 
This panel argues that social media is a key actor in the health and wellness industries, influencing how users participate in discussions and conversations related to wellbeing, health, and embodied experience. Drawing together interdisciplinary qualitative methods to advocate for a critical, feminist approach, the panel focuses on the influence of health-related social media content on users, as well as the effects of these platforms on professional content creators. The first presentation poses a methodological intervention, using Situational Analysis to map the FemTech industry, contending that social media is an important site of research. The second paper presents a close reading of FemTech influencer advertisements on social media, considering the role of influencers in promoting health and medical products. Shifting focus to mental health and therapy on social media, the third paper examines the experiences of mental health influencers on TikTok, while the final paper considers how everyday social media users are emerging as key actors in shaping understandings and definitions of ADHD. Together, the panel sheds light on how social media platforms have become crucial sites of information about bodily health and wellness for both traditional healthcare industry actors, non-professional users, and content creators. In conversation with one another, the papers present a detailed discussion of the relationships between social media and health, advocating for critical methodological approaches and frameworks. This interdisciplinary and globally engaged panel ultimately highlights the influence of social media on reproductive health technologies, influencer marketing, mental health, and the healthcare industry at large.