Abstract
The use of social media to distribute health and nutrition information is getting normalized, however, there are obstacles in terms of information dependability and user participation. While social media may give simple access to a wealth of health-related information and ideas, its use depends on user participation. Registered dietitians and nutritionists, for example, can easily provide scientifically informed food advice via social media platforms such as Instagram and blog forums. Still, they must follow professional ethical rules that prevent them from sharing incorrect health information. Social media rules have been approved by the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. While social media has the potential to improve public health, the reliability of information and user engagement must be carefully assessed. In contrast, untrustworthy posts shared by influencers and celebrities outweigh the health information available online. Nonetheless, social media users are accountable for the information they consume.
Introduction
Social media platforms are rapidly expanding worldwide platforms that link millions of individuals and provide for the instant sharing of various materials. They may be used for a variety of reasons depending on the ideas surrounding them as they are easy to reach, brief in form, and extremely user-friendly. Using social media to give health care information has both advantages and disadvantages. This is due to the undeniable fact that social networking platforms allow for the sharing of user-generated content, both health professionals and non-registered dieticians may utilize social media to disseminate health information in more readily accessible forms, such as photographs and videos, that can be viewed during any time of day. Social media engages healthcare consumers by providing them with rapid access to an abundance of health information and a diverse variety of health-related ideas. Despite its tremendous benefits in delivering information about healthcare, social media still confronts several obstacles in terms of user acceptance and engagement in health information. The effectiveness of health-related information services on social media is dependent on user participation, which implies that users must actively participate not just in obtaining health-related content but also in sharing it (Li et al., 2019). In contrast, the visibility of health and wellness content, whether certified or untrustworthy, will be determined by audience involvement. This paper will discuss how the use of social media to disseminate health and nutrition information is growing, and whether it raises issues in terms of information quality and user engagement.
Social media are obviously useful digital network tools that can help promote health care. Indeed, they have been employed to maintain or improve the relationship between peers and also between patients and health professionals, enhance health organizational image, and accelerate engagement between and among various healthcare stakeholders. People may now easily obtain information thanks to improvements in information and communication technology, which encourages researchers to create responsible, legitimate, and complete nutrition information media ranging from nutritionists to suitable health promotion media (Salim et al., 2021). People using standard health services are not as such engaged in their health status and sickness treatment since healthcare personnel is entirely accountable for the medical process and its consequences. Traditional health service consumers rely totally on the judgments and systems of health personnel, procedures, infrastructure, and information, prompting consumers nowadays to embrace innovative technologies to address health issues. Individuals today believe they must have an active and fair influence over their health-care decisions. As a result of this increase in self-consciousness regarding their health status, people are constantly exploring alternative digital options for dealing with their health problems, obtaining information from others who have been through the same situation, making decisions, and assessing the impact of medical treatment on their life (Salim et al., 2021). The purpose of seeking knowledge is to find answers, minimize misunderstanding, and gain comprehension, which can be a complicated process including social, communicative, and interpersonal activity. Utilizing social media to increase nutritional knowledge and encourage behavioral change is becoming increasingly popular among health professionals, nutritionists, and dietitians worldwide. Social media, forums, and blogs have a big influence on modifying eating habits among young people. By publishing reliable scientific facts, blog sites may be used to disseminate critical dietary knowledge across varied cultures (Chan et al., 2020). Chan et al. (2020) also state that those who read nutrition blogs on a regular basis are more likely to adopt healthier eating habits and have a greater level of nutrition knowledge. Thus, revealing how healthcare professionals, such as registered dietitians and nutritionists, may readily offer scientifically backed nutritional advice via social media platforms like Instagram and blog forums.
Even though social media has the potential to improve public health while also advancing the nutrition and dietetics practitioner’s career by attracting customers, starting an enterprise, and generating an extra income source, they must still abide to professional ethical standards that prohibit them from sharing inaccurate health information. Helm & Jones (2016) discuss that the American Medical Association, Canadian Medical Association, and American College of Physicians, as well as the Federation of State Medical Boards, the American Nurses Association, and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, have all implemented social media policy. Social media policies have been implemented by the American Hospital Association and various institutions, including the Mayo Clinic. A European nongovernmental organization, the Health on the Net Foundation, offers a code of conduct for healthcare workers that includes guidance on the acceptable and ethical use of health data available online. Therefore, disclosure by nutrition and dietetics practitioners using social media is more than a question of professional ethics, it is also obligated by the Federal Trade Commission.
According to Helm & Jones (2016) findings, women with bad eating habits recognized the reliability of blogs maintained by registered dietitian nutritionists, as well as the sense of connection these nutrition and dietetics practitioners provided. As a result, women in the content analysis cited a variety of benefits from blogging, including increased food product awareness, dietary patterns, meal ideas, and nutritional comprehension. The researchers concluded that registered dietitian nutritionist blogs might be an important nutrition information translation tool for chronic disease prevention. As a matter of fact, another study made by Plaisime et al. (2020), demonstrates that both moderate and frequent internet users among youngsters refer to social networks for particular health-related information, most often diet, exercise, and sex education, highlighting social media’s potential as an evidence-based guide for youth, at least in these topics. According to this survey, around 30% of teenagers use social networking sites to acquire knowledge about wellness such as diets, nutrition, and exercise. Furthermore, when determining dependability qualitatively, students employed criteria that are not always reliable indicators of reliability, including seeing information from several sources or if it is tied to a personal narrative. This is due to the fact that young adults choose health information that offers immediate results and satisfaction above behaviors that promote longevity and illness prevention. Jenkins et al. (2022) research, in addition, discovered that students are frequently indifferent to the long-term advantages and repercussions of their health. They are uninterested in nutrition quality, and studies reveal that content shown by the government does not stimulate their interest. They are more drawn to Instagram material, with celebrities and influencers disclosing their food habits, yet they are prone to question the reliability, authenticity, and trustworthiness of such promotions. People are either pressured or motivated to take care of their health as a result of such information. Consequently, Instagram might be of enormous assistance to young people, but it must maintain information accurate in order to encourage a large number of people; if the promotion contains unqualified advice, it can have negative results. Jung et al. (2016) research suggests that the aspects that impact the perceived legitimacy of diet and nutrition information websites are influenced by the source expertise linked to the information and the message authenticity published. Sources are particularly vital for website credibility since the sources must be trustworthy so that people who visit such websites have accurate information since individuals who have medical issues prefer to seek social media for example to balance their diet and thus the websites must be trustworthy. According to this research, the credibility of websites’ sources is verified differently by different people; people with high knowledge tend to check the source expertise, whereas people with low knowledge tend to read the document without verifying its sources; this is why these websites need to have good information for the benefit of all, preventing people from taking incorrect advice. Young adults choose health information that offers immediate results and satisfaction above behaviors that promote longevity and illness prevention.
Despite the fact that many health practitioners are successfully utilizing social networks to provide verified health and nutrition knowledge, it has been discovered that the new generation and young adults prefer health information shared by people to whom they can directly relate to their personal stories, such as celebrities and influencers. Although, health and wellness influencers want to spread healthy attitudes and advice to their audience, many fall short of meeting the qualifications of a certified or qualified nutritionist. The main disadvantage of healthcare content published on social media and other online sources is a lack of reliability and accuracy because the creators of medical information found on social networking sites are frequently unknown or identified by insufficient information, and the knowledge may also be unsourced, inadequate, or unregulated (Ventola, 2014). Nonetheless, it does stop giving rise to the idea that if followers consume the same foods and adopt similar habits as these Influencers, they, too, can acquire the desired body, placing Influencers in a situation of becoming trusted specialists based only on their appearance (Lofft, 2020). In addition to that, fitness-related posts received the second-highest number of followers, likes, and engagement rates among the key categories of posts (Kabata et al., 2022). In a research conducted by Holmberg et al. (2019), it states that the study observed a confusing quantity of inaccurate commercial information on social networks, as well as peer-facilitated food marketing practices in online networks. Ultimately resulted in disappointment by the consumers when testing weight loss techniques that did not have the desired impact. Influencers frequently use fear appeals to create dramatic depictions of potential damage in their followers, which are generally exaggerated, in order to provoke an emotional response and induce behavioral changes, bringing different ethical considerations regarding truthfulness, sincerity, and accuracy. As a result, customers’ perceptions of danger may be altered, causing them to focus on little concerns instead of more serious ones (Chan et al., 2020). According to Turner and Lefevre (2017), increased Instagram usage for uncertified nutrition documentation from Instagram health and wellness community material resulted in higher symptoms of orthorexia, a state of disordered eating patterns caused by an obsessive fixation with eating “pure” food, from Instagram health and wellness community material. This can result in nutritional deficiency in many adherents, and the promotion of a particular diet program or product could even raise negative health advice, causing serious issues of professional achievements and abilities, with users finding it difficult to identify accurate information due to a lack of knowledge and experience. As a result, aesthetic wellness influencers and celebrities monopolize the dietary information market on social media with their aesthetically attractive and aesthetic material, putting consumers at risk by following their advice.
Conclusion
References
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