Likes, shares and misdiagnoses: the rise of health advice on your feed.

You open TikTok to watch one short video. A few minutes later, you have watched a video about vitamin deficiencies, another about anxiety, another explaining the "five signs" that you may have a particular health condition. Sound familiar?

Social media has transformed the way people access and share health information. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X have made health information available almost instantly. People can learn about diseases, discover preventive health measures, hear personal experiences, and find communities where they can discuss health concerns.

But this convenience comes with a serious challenge. Not everything that appears on your feed is accurate, evidence based, or appropriate for you.

Health misinformation has become a recognised public health concern. Research has found misinformation across a wide range of health topics, including vaccines, medicines, cancer, nutrition, and infectious diseases. The World Health Organization describes an "infodemic" as an overabundance of information, including false or misleading information, that can create confusion and contribute to harmful health behaviours.

The problem is not that people are seeing inaccurate information. The problem is that people may act on it.

The Popularity IllusionWhen going viral starts looking like being correct.

One of the biggest problems with health content on social media is that popularity can easily be mistaken for credibility.

A video with hundreds of thousands of views may appear more trustworthy than a video with only a few hundred. A post with thousands of likes and comments can create the impression that the information must be true.

But likes are not evidence, and shares are not scientific validation.

Social media platforms are designed around engagement. Content that is emotional, surprising, controversial, relatable, or easy to understand can attract attention and spread rapidly. Scientific information, on the other hand, can be more complicated and often requires context.

This creates an environment where a confident statement can sometimes travel further than a carefully explained scientific one.

Research examining health misinformation on social media has found substantial misinformation across several health topics and platforms, demonstrating that the problem is not limited to one particular type of content.

The Feedback Loop"I have these symptoms, so I must have this condition."

Perhaps one of the most concerning consequences of health content online is self-diagnosis.

Imagine seeing a video that lists several symptoms of a particular condition. You recognise two or three of them in yourself. Suddenly, you begin wondering whether you have the same condition.

You search for more videos. The algorithm gives you more. Soon, your entire feed appears to confirm your suspicion.

This can create a powerful feedback loop.

The problem is that many symptoms are non-specific. Fatigue, headaches, difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, and many other symptoms can occur for multiple reasons.

A short social media video cannot take a complete medical history, conduct a physical examination, interpret your individual circumstances, or order the appropriate investigations.

Yet online health content can make diagnosis appear incredibly simple. "If you have these five symptoms, you probably have..."

Real healthcare is rarely that straightforward.

The Line That MattersHealth education is not the same as medical advice.

There is nothing inherently wrong with sharing health information online. In fact, social media can be an extremely useful public health tool.

Health professionals, researchers, public health organisations, and credible health communicators can use digital platforms to explain complex topics in simple language, promote healthy behaviours, correct misconceptions, and encourage people to seek appropriate care.

The problem begins when general health education becomes personalised medical advice. There is a significant difference between these two statements:

The first can help someone become informed. The second can encourage self-diagnosis without proper assessment.

Social media should help people understand their health, not replace the process of professional diagnosis.

The Real RiskThe danger is not always the wrong diagnosis.

When we talk about misdiagnosis online, it is easy to imagine someone incorrectly deciding that they have a particular disease. But the risk goes beyond that.

Someone may assume their persistent symptoms are simply stress because they watched a video about anxiety. Another person may decide they have a vitamin deficiency and begin taking supplements without professional guidance. Someone else may believe a symptom is harmless because an influencer described it as "normal."

In each case, the issue is not only whether the online diagnosis is correct. It is what happens because the person believes it.

Misinformation can contribute to inappropriate health decisions, risk-taking behaviours, mistrust, and delays in accessing appropriate care.

The PsychologyWhy do we trust people online?

So why does health advice spread so easily online?

People often connect with someone who says, "This happened to me," because personal stories feel authentic. Someone sharing their experience of a health condition can make another person feel understood, less alone, or more willing to seek help.

Personal experiences can be valuable. But one person's experience is not automatically evidence that the same explanation applies to everyone.

There is also the issue of perceived authority. Someone may speak confidently, use medical terminology, wear a white coat, or present themselves as a "health expert." But appearance and confidence do not automatically establish expertise.

Before accepting health information, we should ask a few basic questions:

These questions are particularly important because people increasingly use social media to seek health information and make decisions about their health.

The AlgorithmYour feed is not a medical textbook.

There is another factor that makes online health misinformation particularly difficult to navigate. The algorithm.

When you interact with health-related content, platforms may recommend more content around the same topic. One video about a particular symptom becomes five. Five becomes twenty. Eventually, your feed may be filled with people discussing the same condition, treatment, supplement, or "warning signs."

This can create the illusion that everyone is experiencing the same thing. You may begin to think: "Everyone is talking about this, so it must be extremely common."

But your social media feed is personalised. It is designed to keep you engaged. It is not designed to give you a balanced representation of medical evidence.

Recent research on wellness misinformation has highlighted the role of influencers and algorithm-driven content in amplifying unverified health claims, and has identified media literacy as one component of potential counter-strategies.

In other words, your feed is not a medical textbook. It is a personalised stream of content.

The Other SideSocial media can also be part of the solution.

It would be unfair to describe social media as purely harmful to public health. Used responsibly, it can be a powerful health communication tool.

Social media allows public health professionals to reach people where they already spend their time. It can make reliable information more accessible, particularly when complex scientific information is translated into language that ordinary people can understand.

The World Health Organization has emphasised the importance of improving people's access to credible, science-based health information online and identifying reliable sources of health information on social media.

This means the solution is not necessarily to tell people, "Stop getting health information from social media." Instead, we should teach people how to evaluate the information they encounter.

That is where health literacy and digital literacy become important.

Before You ActBefore you like, share, or believe.

The next time a health video appears on your feed, pause before immediately liking, sharing, or acting on it.

These questions do not require you to be a healthcare professional. They simply require you to be a critical consumer of information.

Research on interventions against misleading medical information has identified approaches such as media literacy, decision-making support, and strategies that help users recognise misinformation.

The Other ResponsibilityWhat can public health professionals do?

The responsibility does not fall entirely on social media users. Health professionals and public health practitioners also have an important role to play.

If accurate health information is difficult to understand, people may naturally turn to content that is simpler, more relatable, and easier to consume. Public health communication therefore needs to meet people where they are.

That means creating content that is:

1. Accurate
   Grounded in evidence, not personal opinion dressed up as expertise.
2. Clear
   Written and spoken in language ordinary people can actually understand.
3. Relatable
   Connected to the realities of people's daily lives, not abstract textbook cases.
4. Evidence based
   Backed by credible research and health guidance readers can trace and verify.
5. Accessible
   Available in the formats and on the platforms where people already spend their time.

And importantly, health content should communicate uncertainty when uncertainty exists.

Public health professionals do not need to compete with misinformation by becoming sensational. They can compete by making accurate information understandable, engaging, and relevant to people's everyday lives.

The Bottom LineYour feed can inform you, but it should not diagnose you.

Social media has changed the way we interact with health information. It can educate us. It can connect us. It can encourage healthier behaviours.

But it can also confuse us.

A viral video can make an unsupported claim look like medical fact. A personal story can be mistaken for universal evidence. A list of symptoms can turn into a self-diagnosis. And an algorithm can repeatedly reinforce a belief simply because we interacted with similar content.

The answer is not to fear health information online. The answer is to consume it critically.

Learn from your feed. Question what you see. Verify before you share. And when it comes to your health, know when to step away from the screen and speak to a qualified healthcare professional.