Did you know that by eating avocados drenched in fermented peach juice you can increase your fertility by 73%? No? Well, probably because that’s not true. It is no secret that social media is a host of false information; however, one dangerous trend has emerged- fake health news is spreading like wildfire online.
According to The National Library of Medicine, “Falsehoods have been shown to spread faster and farther than accurate information, and research suggests that misinformation can have negative effects in the real world”.
It is important to understand why false information is so common on social media. While social media, especially Instagram, has begun fact-checking content, many posts still go unchecked and those false facts spread quickly.
U.S. Pirg explains that misinformation on social media spreads rapidly because false news is often presented in a plausible, reasonable way. Moreover, the blessing and curse of social media is that everything can spread in a matter of minutes.
With just a few clicks, a post can be shared or reposted, traveling to millions of phones. This happens to misinformation as well. False facts can eventually begin to look very real.
The American Psychological Association explains that while everyone is susceptible to false information, young people are especially vulnerable. This is because, due to the digitizing nature of the world, many young people find their information online — whether it’s about news, weather, or health facts,. This habit desensitizes them from questioning the legitimacy of facts online, causing them to believe in false news.
The rise of trust in social media and failure to recognize false news has multiple reasons.
Boston University accredits it in-part to, “declining trust in science and government. Rising political polarization, coupled with historical medical mistrust among communities that have experienced and continue to experience unequal health care treatment, exacerbates preexisting divides”.
Many people love reading drama and controversy. That’s why gossip spreads so quickly. This also leads us to believe or want to believe in conspiracy theories, further leading to distrust in science and government. Because of this, people begin to doubt the validity of actual medical or science reports, turning to social media as a more so-called reliable source of information.
Many medical hacks on social media are false, but not life-threatening either. For example, Dr. Sachdev at WebMD debunks several medical myths. She notes that the myth spread online about eggs causing heart attacks is untrue, as well as the myth that cracking joints causes arthritis.
However, not all medical misinformation is this mild. Boston University continues to elaborate on the impacts of false health information spreading through social media. It singles out COVID-19 vaccinations as a key example.
During the height of the pandemic, social media spread conspiracy theories about how the COVID-19 vaccinations cause autism and infertility. According to the Boston University article, “An estimated 319,000 COVID-19 deaths that occurred between January 2021 and April 2022 in the United States could have been prevented if those individuals had been vaccinated”.
It is evident that misinformation spread through social media results in the rejection of actual, scientifically-proven medical advice, leading to extreme life detriments.
It can be hard to detect false information on social media, especially when so many people believe in them. However, there are some tips John Hopkins advises, notably using fact-checking tools and acknowledging all sources have bias.
It is also important to view all news with skepticism, questioning if something is too good to be true, if the credentials of the writer are reliable, and judging if the information is simply illogical. By doing this, we can avoid following false medical hacks and harming our bodies. So the next time a post claiming “Eat These Ten Types of Berries and Grow Your Height by Three Inches Overnight” pops up on our feed, let’s click “next post”.
