Dr TikTok: patients diagnose chronic illnesses with anonymous commenters’ help

TikTok users increasingly say the app has steered them toward diagnosing medical problems not yet identified

Malina Lee, a 31-year-old wedding baker based in San Antonio, Texas, joined TikTok during the Covid pandemic lockdowns in 2020. Like many people at the time, she was bored and began using the platform to pass the time and advertise her business. She didn't expect a cancer diagnosis.

Four years after Lee joined the app, a commenter with the username PickleFart" told her that her neck looked asymmetrical in a way that could suggest she had a goiter - an enlarged thyroid gland - and that she should get it checked out. The anonymous amateur clinician turned out to be right - Lee had thyroid cancer, received treatment quickly, and, less than a year later, was cancer free.