Misinformation is on the rise–even more so since COVID-19–but how is it defined, where does it come from, and how can it be squashed?
Ever come across “what I eat in a day” videos? In this article, the authors explore how misinformation in wellness and health spreads in places you might not expect – and how social media sites like YouTube can play an especially unique role in the spreading of misinformation. Check out the abstract below, and then click through to the main article to learn more:
One day of eating: Tracing misinformation in ‘What I Eat In A Day’ videos
Peer-reviewed research by: Justine Topham and Naomi Smith
This article traces how misinformation occurs and is negotiated in What I Eat In A Day (WIEIAD) videos. Data were collected from 84 WIEIAD videos across 59 YouTube accounts. Our discourse analysis demonstrated that misinformation is presented in ways that invoke expertise, scientific credibility and personal experience, making it more difficult to identify and respond to. Our analysis illustrates how misinformation arises in seemingly mundane sites of discourse and argues that identifying and responding to misinformation is not a binary task. The WIEIAD genre demonstrates the complexity of contemporary wellness discourses and their broader role in health and risk management, which results in the (re)circulation of misinformation. The tension between the sensory and the rational in WIEIAD videos highlights the complexities present in how misinformation, wellness and health are entangled on social media.
Click here to read the full open-access article, published in 2023 in the Journal of Sociology.
Full Reference //
Topham, J., & Smith, N. (2023). One day of eating: Tracing misinformation in ‘What I Eat In A Day’ videos. Journal of Sociology, 59(3), 682-698.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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