Watch Reels and Shorts for fun, not health advice

Social media sites have been found to peddle dubious medical advice

- Shrenik Avlani

In these times of constant connectivity, smart phones and doom scrolls, almost everything for almost everyone begins with social media. From what to wear to what to eat, how to train for endurance sports or Hyrox fitness race or get mental health information, name it and there are thousands of influencers and self-proclaimed experts out there with slickly produced slides and short videos that promise you all the answers.

Consequently, a major problem that has come to light in recent times is the amount of misinformation that popular influencers pass off to their unsuspecting followers.

An investigation by The Guardian newspaper recently found that more than half of the top 100 mental health TikToks (which are usually reposted on Instagram as Reels and on YouTube as Shorts) contain misinformation and promote dubious advice, questionable supplements and quick-fix healing methods.