YouTube’s credibility tags face “credibility conundrum” in fight against misinformation

YouTube’s credibility tags face “credibility conundrum” in fight against misinformation

Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-0490   

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

While YouTube’s newly introduced tagging policy attempts to steer consumers to credible information sources on the social media platform by prioritizing credible sources in the search algorithm, individuals may still tend to rely on sources they trust for health information, like friends or even celebrities. The authors of a new commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine refer to this as the “credibility conundrum.” What one person considers “credible,” another may not. 

Commentary authors, Christine Laine, MD, MPH, editor-in-chief of Annals of Internal Medicine, and Hussain Lalani, MD, MPH of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, cited a recent patient encounter as an example of the credibility conundrum. When asked why she declined COVID-19 vaccination, a 70-year-old woman said that she lived with her daughter and wanted grandchildren. A “friend who reads a lot” told her that vaccinated people shed particles that affect the fertility of those around them. Even though advice she received from clinicians contradicted advice from her friend, the patient found her friend to be a more credible source of information.

It is uncertain how tagging individuals or organizations that medical experts deem “credible” and prioritizing them in search results will influence the public’s health literacy. YouTube and its panel of medical experts recognize this challenge and have invited feedback from users and content contributors. Health professionals who observe potentially problematic posts or have ideas about how to further elevate good health information should respond to YouTube’s invitation for feedback. But the editorialists say that health care professionals should also ask their patients who seem misinformed where they get their information and attempt to direct them to credible sources.  Studies show that sources considered to be trustworthy varied substantially by political affiliation, geography, and age. Being a trusted source for patients is one way physicians can help thwart the spread of misinformation while society works to solve this conundrum.   

 

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF or to speak with corresponding author, Christine Laine, MD, MPH, please contact Angela Collom at [email protected].