Up to 35% of older Americans — and half of adults under 50 — get health information and advice from social media influencers and podcasters, most of whom are not health care professionals, according to a Pew Research Center report published online May 7, 2026.
Researchers analyzed the posts of 6,828 content producers, each of whom had at least 100,000 followers on social media, and regularly posted about health and wellness or hosted a top-ranked podcast that covered these topics. The researchers also looked at responses from 10,134 American adults to two separate 2025 surveys. Participants reported how frequently they sought health and wellness information from influencers and podcasts.
While 41% of influencers described themselves as some form of health care professional, only 17% were doctors, dentists, or nurses. About 30% said they were coaches, and 28% reported being entrepreneurs. About 13% said their expertise stems from a medical condition they have had; their journey to lose weight or improve fitness; or their experience as a caregiver.
It’s probably because they don’t want to deal with this:
- Schedule an appointment somewhere in a busy provider schedule which can’t see patients for the next week to a month.
- End up seeing a Nurse Practitioner because there’s no doctors anymore.
- Tests get ordered and cost $100-300 out of pocket.
- Follow-up with a nurse practitioner in 2 weeks
- Get told to try a new medication, reduce stress, eat healthier, be more active, meditate and also schedule another follow-up to make sure the medication is working.
I haven’t been able to see a doctor in twenty years now. For most of that time, I couldn’t afford insurance. Now that I have it, the closest doctor accepting new patients that my insurance covers is over an hour away.
That said, I still don’t go to podcasters and influencers for advice. I just rely on things I learned twenty years ago and hope nothing new breaks.
God bless America, am I right?
Does this surprise anyone in a country that has health care that needs to make a profit?
Guess what? This wouldn’t happen if we had affordable healthcare.
And a ban on social media monetization. Or a ban on making medical statements on social media.
With one quick rule “you’re not allowed to give medical advice” we would solve it all.
