🌱 How media literacy is quietly improving our health
We are swimming in health claims, from TikTok remedies to influencer supplements, yet the skills to sort signal from noise are still unevenly taught. We’re looking at what happens when schools, governments and civil society treat health media literacy as a core life skill rather than a niche concern.
▶️ If you want a deeper look at how trust is built and broken, and why media literacy behaves like a public health tool, add our documentary “Trust Me” to your watch list.
📊 Getting Better Poll
🧠 Breaking down TikTok health trends
A health teacher and librarian in North Salem, New York asked students to bring in the health posts that show up in their TikTok and Instagram feeds, including tanning touted as safer than sunscreen, chia seeds as miracle weight loss and dares that seem funny but carry real risk. They built a lesson with the News Literacy Project that explains how algorithms push more extreme content, how influencers use relatability and aesthetics to sell products and ideas, and how to spot red flags like “quick fix,” “all natural” and dramatic before and after photos. Students practiced lateral reading by opening new tabs, checking sources and discovering that some “miracle” cures had already been debunked.
By the end, many no longer equated likes and followers with trust, and one student reported fact-checking a “tanning is safer than sunscreen” post and choosing sunscreen for their weekend game instead. Yet a national survey from the same project found that about four in ten teens report never having had any media literacy lesson, even though almost all say they want it, and only a few states like New Jersey and Connecticut now require such instruction. The long-term trend is hopeful but incomplete – media literacy is moving into curricula, yet many young people still rely on ad-driven feeds to learn about health.
The Better Take:
When you or someone you care about sees a viral health tip, treat popularity as a cue to pause, not a reason to trust. Ask three simple questions: Who is behind this claim, what evidence do they show and what do independent sources say when you open a new tab. A few extra seconds of checking can mean fewer wasted purchases, fewer risky experiments with your body and more confidence that your decisions rest on evidence rather than on algorithms.
🌍 Media literacy as the next public health campaign
An essay by the Managing Director of Getting Better Foundation argues that media literacy should be treated like the next public health campaign because mis- and disinformation now shape choices about vaccines, supplements, relationships and more. It notes that the deluge of misleading content erodes trust in science and public health, and exposes the most vulnerable – children, older adults and people already under stress – to extreme claims and manipulative content.
The piece stresses that media literacy is more than fact-checking: it is learning to question how messages are constructed, to recognize stereotypes and fear-based narratives, and to see when our own confirmation bias is being targeted. It points to research showing that media literacy education can improve knowledge, attitudes and behaviors on topics like body image and substance use, making people more skeptical of unhealthy advertising and gender stereotypes.
The Better Take:
When a health story sparks anxiety or excitement, it helps to remember that you are not just consuming information, you are being invited into someone else’s narrative. A simple habit is to ask how a piece of content wants you to feel and act, then deliberately look for a source that has no product to sell and no outrage to stoke. Doing this regularly builds your “mental immune system” – over time it becomes easier to avoid harmful bandwagon trends, to notice when your emotions are being played, and to make calmer decisions about your own health and your family’s health.
🏥 Building a safe and informed digital nation
The UK government published “A Safe, Informed Digital Nation,” a multi-year media literacy action plan that treats these skills as basic infrastructure for democratic and healthy living. It sets a vision that everyone should be able to navigate the internet confidently, recognize misinformation and find trusted information, with media literacy woven through schools, libraries, local services and adult skills programs.
On health specifically, the plan commits health departments and the UK Health Security Agency to keep producing clear, evidence-based messages on social media, to direct people to NHS resources and to use men’s and women’s health strategies to build media literacy skills that help people evaluate health information. Perhaps most importantly, the plan states that effective regulation must go hand in hand with education and shared responsibility – no single platform, regulator or campaign can fix the problem alone.
The Better Take:
When you see a government or platform announce a new initiative on misinformation, it can be useful to ask two questions: Are they investing in people’s skills, not just in takedown tools, and are they making trusted information easier to find when it matters. For you as a citizen, that lens helps cut through vague promises and focus on concrete changes you can look for locally - updated lessons in schools, simpler official health guidance, or new support in libraries and community centers. These are slow, unglamorous shifts, but they are the ones most likely to leave you and your community better equipped rather than more dependent on gatekeepers.