JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social media has been widely used by the general public as a source of health information because of its convenience. However, the increasing prevalence of health misinformation on social media is becoming a serious concern, and it remains unclear how the general public identifies and responds to it.

Objective:

To explore the approaches employed by the general public for identifying and responding to health misinformation on social media.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 respondents from the Malaysian general public. The Theory of Motivated Information Management (TMIM) was used as a guiding framework for conducting the interviews. Audio-taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and imported into Atlas.ti software for analysis. Themes were identified from the qualitative data using a thematic analysis method.

Results:

The spread of health misinformation through social media platforms has caused uncertainty and triggered a range of emotional responses, including anxiety and feelings of vulnerability, among respondents who encountered it. The approaches to identifying health misinformation on social media included examining message characteristics and sources. Messages were deemed as misinformation if they contradicted credible sources or exhibited illogical and exaggerated content. Respondents described multiple response approaches to health misinformation, based on the situation. Verification was chosen if the information was deemed important, while misinformation was often ignored to avoid conflict. Respondents were compelled to take action if misinformation affected their family members, had been corrected by others, or if they were knowledgeable about the topic. Taking action involved correcting the misinformation and reporting the misinformation to relevant social media, enforcement authorities and government bodies.

Conclusions:

This study highlights the factors and motivations influencing the public’s identification and response to health misinformation on social media. Addressing the challenges of health misinformation identified in this study requires collaborative efforts from all stakeholders to reduce the spread of health misinformation and reduce public belief in it.