In a recent review published in Social Science & Medicine, researchers assess previous research on the impact of social media influencers (SMI) on adolescent health. The study findings indicate that although SMIs can harm mental and physical health, their influence can encourage healthier habits and promote effective health messaging.

Study: Social media influencers and adolescents’ health: A scoping review of the research field. Image Credit: AlessandroBiascioli / Shutterstock.com

The reach of social media influencers

As smartphone and social media use becomes pervasive, SMIs have a very important role in contributing to information consumed by most people people. SMIs are sometimes considered role models who’re more authentic and trustworthy than experts; nonetheless, many have industrial interests and usually are not experts within the topics they create content on.

Adolescents are particularly prone to misinformation, as they’re in a formative period that can strongly influence their adult lives. SMIs may promote unrealistic lifestyles or body types, thus resulting in negative body image. SMIs may additionally promote or advertise harmful products like alcohol or tobacco, which could exacerbate health challenges that adolescents currently face, like high obesity rates and mental health issues.

Concerning the study

Many previous reviews on this area have explored links between adolescent health and social media without considering the role of influencers, while some included all populations no matter age.

The current study addresses the research gap in analyses that focused specifically on adolescents, who’re a uniquely vulnerable population. This angle allows the identification of research priorities to mitigate the potential limitations of social media influence while developing simpler ways to succeed in adolescents with health messaging and interventions.

Researchers identified 51 papers on the influence of SMIs on adolescents between 13 and 19 years of age concerning nutrition, mental health, sexual health, physical activity, and substance use. These papers were obtained from 11 electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus.

The included studies defined and classified SMIs in various ways; nonetheless, all definitions had commonalities, equivalent to having numerous followers and high engagement through content.

Influencers differed within the topics that they covered, whether or not they were profit-oriented when it comes to corporate sponsorships, which social media platforms they utilized, and what number of followers they’d. Western countries and girls were overrepresented in these papers.

Influencers can promote unrealistic body images and unhealthy content

Many SMIs deal with appearance, food, and nutrition. In young women and adolescent girls, SMIs can adversely impact body image by promoting body ideals and thin, muscular body types.

Chubby individuals are stigmatized by these actions, which might result in bullying and stereotype development. Negative self-perceptions and body dissatisfaction also can drive unhealthy habits and result in substance use and eating disorders.

Food content created by SMIs often focuses on unhealthy foods, and influencers could have promoting contracts with recognizable food brands. Content on unhealthy food is more memorable. Adolescents may additionally not realize that they’re consuming promoting and never organic content.

Other SMIs create content on cigarettes and e-cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, vaping, and hookah. These influencers may film themselves performing ‘tricks’ or promoting products.

When SMIs endorse products like tobacco, they improve attitudes toward smoking or endorse the view that vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Although many tobacco influencers are followed by adolescents, there aren’t any age restrictions on the content they post.

Health influencers also can have far-reaching impacts, particularly in the event that they provide inaccurate information and treatment advice. Furthermore, SMIs may promote non-evidence-based or debunked treatment methods.

Many ‘followers’ form parasocial relationships with influencers who share personal insights into their lives. Since SMIs share details about their lives, they generalize their very own experiences through biased accounts, particularly regarding mental health. This often results in self-diagnosis by adolescents, who may then suffer from misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment.

SMIs and effective health messaging

SMIs form strong bonds with their followers and share relatable content with their audience. Some studies found that when influencers created anti-tobacco content, these messages were viewed more positively than those in traditional health campaigns.

A very important policy suggestion is to make sure that adolescents usually are not exposed to harmful content, particularly unhealthy products. Nonetheless, the inherent authenticity of influencers may be harnessed to tailor messaging to varied media environments and goal audiences.

Future studies can address the research gaps highlighted on this review. The deal with the Global North, in addition to on girls, shows how boys, diverse people, and people from developing countries have been excluded from this field of study. Research also needs to examine if the motivations of SMIs are profit-based or altruistic.

Sexual health content has not been well-studied, thus reflecting the necessity for further studies to look at the role of SMIs on this area.

Conclusions

The rising influence of SMIs is related to each challenges and opportunities. Thus, the role of researchers and policymakers is to mitigate the harmful effects of misinformation and work with influencers to speak positive and helpful messages.