Social media can be a hotbed of misinformation. But Nick Brody, associate professor and chair of communication studies, says public health experts like Rose Marie Leslie 鈥12 who take the plunge into social media platforms can help combat false information.
Brody, who researches the social implications of technology, says misinformation about topics like public health can spread easily for two reasons. One is that people just don鈥檛 know a lot about these topics in general, so when they turn to the internet for help understanding, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e likely not using the same terms experts use, since experts use a lot of jargon.鈥 So when people type in a search term that doesn鈥檛 use any of that jargon, and nothing reliable comes up, 鈥渢hey go to whoever has monopolized that search term. And often those are people who are not experts.鈥
Then there鈥檚 a problem that isn鈥檛 really new, but social media has exacerbated it: We trust our social connections more than someone we don鈥檛 know. 鈥淲e rely on people we already have a preexisting relationship with, so if they鈥檙e putting something out there, we have an inherent trust that what they鈥檙e saying is true,鈥 Brody says. So we click 鈥渟hare鈥 without checking on the information first, and if it isn鈥檛 true, then misinformation gets amplified.
People like Leslie are helping to fill in those information voids. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really, really important for experts like Dr. Leslie to be speaking and creating content in these spaces,鈥 Brody says. 鈥淵ou have to meet people where they are. So many young people are getting health information from TikTok and social media more broadly. We may wish they were getting health information from a doctor, but there are all kinds of reasons why people don鈥檛鈥攕o people are going to do it, anyway. I see Dr. Leslie's online presence as a public service.鈥
Other experts can take a cue from Leslie, says Brody, if they鈥檙e hoping to expand their own platforms. 鈥淲hat Dr. Leslie is doing鈥攃reating engaging, funny content that taps into the TikTok trends going on right now, and the memes that are spreading right now鈥攖hat鈥檚 all rewarded in the algorithm, which exposes more people to the content.鈥
And having more of these real experts online can help to combat the trust problem. 鈥淧eople can also form what we call parasocial relationships with media characters, online influencers, politicians, and celebrities,鈥 Brody says. 鈥淭hey feel like they have a true relationship with that person.鈥 So the more an expert can foster those relationships, like showing their real personality in their videos and engaging with followers in the comments, the more they strengthen the bond鈥攚hich makes people more likely to trust and share the information they鈥檙e giving out.
鈥擝y Maggie Mertens