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Friday, Jan. 16, 2026

Do the majority of Americans use social media to get health information?

Tom Kertscher, MinnPost
yes

In two recent polls, a majority of U.S. adults said they use social media to get health information.

July 2025 by KFF, a leading health policy research nonprofit: 55% said they use social media “to find health information and advice” at least occasionally. Less than one in 10 said “most” of the information is trustworthy.

September 2024 by Healthline: 52% said they learned from social media health and wellness tools, resources, trends, or products they tried in the past year. About 77% expressed at least one negative view, such as “there is a lot of conflicting information.”

An April 2024 medical journal article said that over one-third of social media users perceived high levels of health misinformation, and two-thirds reported “high perceived discernment difficulty.” The University of Wisconsin-Madison is conducting a long-term study to determine how social media affects the physical/mental health of adolescents.

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