Amid cultural wars about masking, Covid-19 treatment, and vaccine mandates, many Americans are at a loss as to who to trust when it comes to health care information.

Under Facebook’s new fire for putting revenue on people based on whistleblower testimony before Congress, it’s surprising that anyone trusts social media platforms, especially in a healthcare context.

But according to new data released this week from PatientsLikeMe, an online patient community, 11% of Americans surveyed said they turn to social media when looking for reliable health information. Nearly one in ten (9%) also said they use social media to review new treatment options and 7% ask for information about drug side effects from social media.

While these numbers are relatively small, they represent a higher proportion of respondents than share who say they trust social media for health information. That group was only 2% of the respondents.

In other words, many more people use social media to find health information than trust social media to provide reliable health information.

The health information warning found on social media does not necessarily translate into caution about other online sources of health information.

The first instinct of people is to turn to Google to find information about a health condition and treatment. Nearly a quarter of consumers surveyed said they use search engines to review new treatment options and 29% use search engines for information on drug side effects.

But search engines may not be the best source of information either, according to Libby Baney, executive director of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP Global).

“There’s no real truth on the internet when it comes to search results,” Baney said.

A survey in July conducted by ASOP Global showed that 72% of Americans believe that top search results in health care-related searches should be verified, but Baney said there is no way to find out if that happens or not. Search engine algorithms are fuzzy and dynamic, constantly changing.

“People go to the internet and in some cases, blindly trust what they see,” Baney said.

Consumers, he said, are not yet trained to know what information is reliable or not based on search engine results. Many people simply assume that any websites that appear at the top of Google results should be browsed.

“Consumers are really struggling to parse legitimacy from science against science fiction,” Baney said. “We can’t expect patients to educate ourselves outside of the algorithm.”

Americans may use self-service channels for health information because many do not have a specific system for monitoring and managing their health. Although 80% of survey respondents said they would be comfortable or very comfortable using a mobile app to manage their health and wellness, almost half (43%) do not use any such tool.

A bright spot in the PatientsLikeMe survey results is that doctors still come out on top for reliable health information, despite getting a credibility that was hit as the pandemic wore on. A poll in August showed that 41% of Americans surveyed lost confidence in their doctors during the pandemic.

The survey shows that 76% of respondents reported trusting their doctors for health information. The largest group of respondents – 43% — also said they turned to their doctors to evaluate new treatment options and 37% said they looked to their doctor for reliable information about drug side effects.

These findings are consistent with other surveys, such as an Associated Press-NORC poll placed in June that showed 70% of people surveyed trust their doctors and 79% trust nurses to do. what is right for them and their families at all or at all times.

However, consumers spend a lot of time on their own trying to make sense of their own health. Baney suggests that consumers need to think differently about online health care information than they do about other types of information.

“It’s becoming more dangerous to health care and we haven’t done one yet [great] distinguishes health care work from other things, “Baney said.” Buying prescription drugs for myself is different than buying shows on the internet. “