TikTok for Radiology Education: Is Now the Right Time?

TikTok is the fastest growing social media app in the world and is designed to be social and promote discovery. We have used various social media sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest) for radiology education for several years, and created a TikTok account in March 2020 (@CTisus) to determine its suitability for expanding our audience for radiology education. Since we create video content for our website and other social media outlets, we have posted those videos to TikTok, opting not to create anything specifically for TikTok. For the hashtag #radiology (which currently has 388.2 million views), we viewed the first 100 videos shown per TikTok's algorithm. About half the videos (n=46) were about radiology work life, including remarks by patients or basic information about becoming a radiology technologist. Twenty-four videos were radiology-related jokes. Seven videos showed radiology equipment, mainly how MRI scanners interact with metal. Ultimately, only eight were professional English-language videos pertaining to radiology education. Though the appeal of TikTok is clear based on popularity, potentially offensive, inappropriate, or irrelevant videos can appear. TikTok for radiology, then, should come with a disclaimer. But TikTok should not be summarily dismissed as a silly dancing app. Educators can reach a substantial audience, especially those in the earliest stages of their medical education. Though it is currently not the most suitable app for medical professionals, TikTok warrants consideration for use in radiology education as long as it is used with caution. (c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.