LAUSR

BACKGROUND Pediatric craniofacial surgeons face specific ethical and professional concerns regarding the growth of social media use in plastic surgery. We sought to elucidate parents' views on social media use by pediatric craniofacial surgeons. In addition, the study examines issues of consent, assent, and exploitation. METHODS An anonymous 51-question, multiple-choice survey investigating parents' views of pediatric plastic surgeons' social media use was crowdsourced through Prolific.Co. RESULTS Six hundred eighty-one parents responded to the survey. Of the 656 included respondents, 88% to 93% believe that surgeons need to obtain consent from the parents to post pictures of the pediatric patient on social media, regardless of age. Respectively, 84.5% and 75% of respondents believe the surgeon needs to document assent from the 12- and 10-year-old patient. Parents who follow plastic surgeons on social media are more likely to agree that assent needs to be documented from all pediatric patients, regardless of age, before posting pictures on social media. The mean age at which respondents believe physicians should be required to elicit assent from the pediatric patient to post pictures was 9.65-years-old. Approximately 40% of respondents felt that patients portrayed in pictures on social media were being exploited, irrespective of the child's stated age. CONCLUSION Plastic surgeons need to recognize parents' perceptions regarding social media use when considering posting pictures of pediatric patients on social media. The data suggest that surgeons should elicit assent from patients as young as 9-years-old prior to posting pictures on social media.