have varying opinions on the required input for chatbot websites and applications. in some cases, chatbots offer limited space to input multiple symptoms and locations of symptoms for diagnosis determination. interfaces have presented users with a "pre-structured symptom selection list" which has forced users to be more general with their responses than they would prefer. other users have felt that questions asked by self-diagnosing chatbots require too much detail, leaving them confused or overwhelmed. social media social media has started to take on a particularly important role in the process of self-diagnosis, especially the diagnosis of mental health disorders. social media users seeking answers often self-diagnose by resonating with a particular trait of a disorder that has been mentioned in a social media post. self-diagnosis through social media is generally more prevalent in individuals who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd), anxiety, depression, or other complex trauma. increased access to the ability to self-diagnose via the internet can have benefits for patient-doctor communication. by assessing a patient's self-diagnosis, a medical professional can see with which specific traits of a disease the patient identified and can work with them to create a potentially more effective diagnosis and treatment. self-diagnosis through social media may have some drawbacks associated with it. some social media postings can simplify a diagnosis, leading to a spread of misinformation about the emphasized disease. some online self-diagnosis tests state that common, broad symptoms, like anxiety and mood swings, are definite indicators of specific disorders, causing social media users to report such posts for inaccuracy. people who publish health-related posts on the self-diagnosis of health issues may not have verified medical credentials even though they have posed their post as providing expert advice. journalist and author doreen dodgen-magee considers self-diagnosis tests to work due to confirmation bias, which was witnessed when there was a statistical increase in the number of teenage girls approaching their doctors with a concern they had tourettes syndrome after multiple videos naming broad symptoms as signs of tourettes went viral on tiktok. impact on varying demographics vulnerable demographics ani and bazargan from the department of family medicine and research centers in minority institutions found that accessibility, affordability, continuity of medical care, and financial strains are the primary factors that determine whether patients choose to use self-diagnose or formal diagnoses. by utilizing the behavioral model for vulnerable populations, the study sampled over 1,394 african american and latino households. apart from their minority ethnic status, the households also had the following intersectional identities: 89% were female, 50% were single-parent households, 60% had less than a high school education, 73% were unemployed, and 33% were non-english speakers. throughout the research process, 43% of the participants reported that a physician had never diagnosed at least one of their illnesses. the study's results note the significant influence of socio-economic backgrounds on using self-diagnosis as a more efficient and accessible medical solution. the study, however, also raised a concern regarding self-diagnosis in minority communities. results show that the possibility of seeking self-diagnosis was far more likely when there were noticeable symptoms than when the symptoms were non-noticeable. if regular health checks were not offered to these demographics, they most likely would not realize their health conditions until they become irreversible. commenting on this unrepairable outcome, twitter user pete wharmby expresses frustration for non-white persons with autism: "autism is often undiagnosed, especially in demographics that are not young white males. this means self-diagnosis is often a requirement to get an official diagnosis. some cannot get this dx, but still, deserve to be heard." covid-19 pandemic covid-19 also contributed to the increase in self-diagnosis among minority populations. samantha artiga from the kaiser family foundation reports that when statistics were corrected to account for differences in age by race and ethnicity, it became clear that black, hispanic, aian, and nhopi persons had the highest rates of covid-19 cases and deaths in compared to white people. these demographics had a correlated surge in self-diagnosed covid-19 cases. the conversation highlights how using internet resources to evaluate covid-19 symptoms and self-triage was promoted during the pandemic, exhibiting how online health information gained new significance. the benefits and costs for vulnerable demographics this trend of turning to self-diagnosis among minorities can be potentially dangerous, given the unfiltered and unauthorized information online. a report from psychreg criticizes self-diagnosis for its potentially hazardous nature, reporting that 61% of the advice on social media (specifically, tiktok) is incorrect. the camber mental health organization also notes the potential danger of online self-diagnosis, indicating that influencers without proper license offer public advice that can further jeopardize the vulnerable demographics. other studies present non-dangerous aspects of self-diagnosis for these populations. a new study published by the department of public health and primary care at leiden university medical centre explains that patients use the internet to find reliable medical information about minor ailments and thus prevent symptoms from worsening if immediate health care cannot be provided. after surveying 1,372 participants, the study finds that most patients utilize this symptom-based approach. suppose the patients expect the potential diagnosis to be more lethal. in that case, they tend to conduct further research on the internet to verify their suspicions about their condition. age younger generations are more likely to perform self-diagnosis. kwakernaak explains their findings of a positive correlation between self-diagnosing accuracy and the age variable. there was an inverse relationship between age and accuracy; the younger the patient was, the more likely they would find high-quality websites for information. kunst from statista conducts a survey that presents the frequency data of each age group using apps for self-diagnosis. the group aged 18–19 years old were almost two times more likely to use the internet regularly or occasionally compared to all the other age groups. the data showed that 10% of those in that age group used self-diagnosis regularly compared to 4% of respondents older than 61. the study posits that this frequent usage may explain why the younger population had more experience searching for high-quality websites and receiving accurate diagnoses. however, kunst notes that this conclusion may be biased as the survey was conducted online and thereby only targeted respondents who had frequent access to the internet.