• References

The Trust Project

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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.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Sources

References:

KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust, KFF, July 2025. Source link

KFF Health Information and Trust Tracking Poll: Health Information and Advice on Social Media, KFF, Aug. 7, 2025. Source link

State of Consumer Health, Healthline, Oct. 8, 2024. Source link

State of Consumer Health toplines, Healthline, accessed in January 2026. Source link

Perceptions of Health Misinformation on Social Media: Cross-Sectional Survey Study, JMIR Infodemiology, accessed in January 2026. Source link

Scrolling for answers, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Oct. 1, 2025. Source link

Type of Story: Fact-Check

Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.