The role of social media in career choices of first-year dental students: a cross-sectional study on digital homogeneity

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BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of social media in the career choices of first-year dental students in Turkey and to examine the relationship between this effect and demographic characteristics and social media usage habits. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study included first-year dental students enrolled in different dental faculties in Turkey during the 2025-2026 academic year. Data were collected through a two-part online questionnaire developed in line with the literature, with internal consistency assessed as a preliminary step (α = 0.84); formal psychometric validation was not conducted. The questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, social media usage habits, exposure to dentistry-related content, and factors influencing career choice. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were used to analyze the data, and the significance level was set at p 0.05). Among students influenced by social media, 47.9% reported using social media for 3 h or more per day, and TikTok was the most frequently used platform (20.3%). Animations were the most attention-grabbing content type (22.9%), while social prestige (22.9%) was the most common expectation associated with social media. Across all participants, the most frequently reported reasons for choosing dentistry were guidance counselor recommendations (15.5%) and the prestige of the profession (14.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that a considerable proportion of first-year dental students in the study sample reported being influenced by social media during their career decision-making, and this reported influence was not significantly associated with demographic variables. Idealized professional representations on social media, particularly those emphasizing prestige and lifestyle expectations, may shape students' perceptions of the profession. These findings highlight the need for dental faculties to develop realistic and balanced digital content strategies, and for guidance services to incorporate media literacy training, so that prospective students can critically evaluate social media content during the career choice period.