Seeking Alternatives; how social media facilitates the spread of health misinformation
It’s reasonable to say that everyone with access to the internet has typed a health-related query into Google, at least once. It’s cheaper and more efficient than booking a doctor’s appointment, and for something mild, it’s an adequate means to finding remedies and reassurance. At the end of each webpage there’s usually a disclaimer that if your condition worsens you should seek professional medical advice. In recent years though and with the advancement of social media, this notion has been embattled by online health gurus, whose brand of self-betterment relies on shunning the advice of health professionals in favour of more holistic alternatives.
The internet is effectively a free marketplace for ideas and information, and although it facilitates the flow of vital information, we still need to be conscientious consumers. This requires us to question the reliability and authority of the ideas we find online, and to be critical of the agenda of social media personality’s spruiking alternative approaches to wellbeing. This is an alarming issue when currently over a third of doctor visitors in Australia are more likely to look up medical information online, either before or after visiting a doctor.
An example of pseudoscience having an impact and influence towards the widespread of false medical advice is the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine epidemic. Despite there being large amounts of information found online about the vaccines safety, false claims explaining that the vaccine is harmful and spread widely, resulted in plummeting levels of vaccinations globally. This showed the influence everyday citizen are able to have on one’s health by disseminating false acquisitions via social media. Alternatively, the online distribution of false medical remedies are seen as a great business opportunity for self-brand and promotion for citizens and celebrities alike.
Belle Gibson is the perfect example of how an everyday cancer con artist dumped lies onto the public, claiming she cured her non-existent brain cancer through diet and alternative therapies. Gibson is probably one of Australia’s greatest con artists that publicly broadcasted claims that her whole food based diet and holistic approach to health was able to cure several severe conditions. As a result of online manipulation, Gibson was able to publicize a book and app that became extremely popular. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop at every day citizens, false medical remedies are also being promoted by influential and idolised celebrities in order to promote their brand and image. Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle and wellness brand ‘Goop’ is defiantly an example that comes to mind. Paltrow’s brand is currently being accused of making dangerously misleading promises to customers. The brand had complaints from the UK’s national trading and advertising standards authorities which listed 113 examples of misleading advertising.
An article written by Canadian doctor, Jennifer Gunter noted how the claims made about health products advertised by celebrities is mostly, if not all, mystical, magic nonsense. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop brand and the “Jade Egg” product that you insert into your vagina for hours at a time can defiantly be seen as problematic and ridiculous, but it still sells. Gunter explained how the information given to the public about the jade egg was false and by wearing a jade egg whilst walking around can have negative physical impacts on a women’s pelvic floor muscles. This problem is now even further complicated by the personalisation algorithms through programmatic technologies that have been developed to feed us content that is consistent with our beliefs, helping to strengthen the acceptance of information provided to us, whether its credible or not.
To conclude, it is obvious that people need to be conscious consumers when it comes to online health information. The up rise of social media and its online platforms has created an opportunity for non-credible nonsense to float around that has the potential to affect people’s health. Therefore it is important to look out for and recognise credible sites so you are out of harm’s way.
