Influencer: Many users trust them blindly when it comes to health issues

Influencers are primarily concerned with their reach, because that flushes money into their accounts. In short: Anything that brings followers is good. However, when it comes to self-proclaimed health experts, their advice can be dangerous. Especially for those who follow them blindly.

This also applies because some “experts” specifically propagate their own (diet) remedies. Because they still collect commissions for it. This is indicated by the “world on Sunday“ (WamS) down. Product placement is perhaps without major risks and side effects when it comes to fashion and cosmetics. With diets or drugs, however, the health risk is many times higher.

The following applies to influencers: Reach counts, not medical knowledge

The main problem: Influencers have a clear business model. This is based on a large range and the highest possible sales. Health competence is not necessary for this, it rather slows down the sales success. What counts are likes and enthusiastic user votes. The communication scientist Amelie Duckwitz from the Technical University of Cologne warns in the report: “This says nothing about the quality of the contributions; the currency of the business is likes, reach and followers.”

The expert examines how influencers shape the behavior of their followers. Duckwitz notes that today social media is taking on the role that “neighbor talks” used to have. If you had health problems, then you gladly accepted the advice your neighbors gave you at the garden fence.

But with influencers, it’s not about confidential and personal chatting, but many thousands of users are “informed”.

“Nobody has to drink liquids” – was the fatal advice of an influencer

The report shows how dangerous this can be using the example of an Austrian influencer. Until a few years ago, Sophie Prana spread the crude claim on Instagram that you don’t have to drink extra liquid. What the body can get from raw fruit is enough. This claim contradicts all medical knowledge. According to this, every person should take in two to three liters of liquid per day – a good one liter of which comes from drinks.

As another example, the report cites the rejection of birth control pills observed in schools by female students. One reason for the skeptical attitude is that doctors make recommendations from influencers. The problem with this is that anyone who follows this advice blindly and takes it at face value is sometimes doing their health a disservice.

“Doc Felix” comments on everything and everyone on TikTok

Would you like an example? “Doc Felix” with his TikTok-Thatl is known to many users.

Of course, the influencer is not a medical doctor, “Doc” is only used as a name suffix and is intended to reflect competence. For example, when “Doc Felix” comments on earwax, e-cigarettes and other pressing health issues.

The influencer, whose real name is Felix Berndt, explains his success to the “world”. Instead of getting health information from the state Robert Koch Institute, for example, many followers trust influencers: “And that’s because people tend to believe another person than an institute that works much more evidently and validly, but hardly a personal one level of trust”, according to “Doc Felix” or Felix Berndt.

Targeted fake news during corona vaccination

Behavior becomes a problem when their personal trust blinds followers to the medical incompetence of many influencers. But it’s not just “pretentiousness” that can become a problem. There is also a risk that opinionated web role models will deliberately spread untruths and disinformation. The article gives an example of a request to influencers at the height of the Corona vaccination campaign. A London agency asked prominent influencers like Mirko Drotschmann (“MrWissen2go”) to comment critically on Biontech’s corona vaccine. Drotschmann, who has a good reputation to lose, went public with it. French social media activist Léo Grasset said he was offered €2,000 for a post.

This is of course a different caliber, an approach at least in the legal gray area. But the normal case should also alarm followers: that their preferred influencer claims medical competence that he does not have.