More than Half of Adults Use Social Media for Health Information

Social media is more frequently becoming a tool to find health information in adults, according to a new poll from KFF.¹ A total of 55% of adults polled reported that they had used social media, at least occasionally, to find health information or advice in the past month, with young adults and those of Black and Hispanic descent reporting more frequent use.

Adults, especially young adults, frequently use social media for their health information, according to a new survey. | Image credit: Rawpixel.com - stock.adobe.com

This survey, conducted between July 8 and July 14, 2025, used a nationally representative sample of adults in the US and asked questions either online or over the telephone. This particular sample included 1004 adults, of whom 58 spoke Spanish predominately and 979 completed the survey online.

Although 45% of those surveyed reported that they never used social media to get health information or advice, more reported the opposite, with 11% reporting everyday use, 11% reporting use at least once a week, 4% reporting that they used social media at least once a month, and 29% reporting that they used social media occasionally to look up health information.

When looking into specific demographics, those aged 18 to 29 years were the most frequent users of social media to find health information, with only 26% never using social media. Hispanic (26%) and Black (35%) participants also had low percentages of those who never used social media compared with White participants (53%).

Party line was not significant in differences between those who used social media for health information, with Democrats (46%) and Republicans (48%) having near equal percentages of those who never used social media. Independents used social media slightly more than either, with only 41% reporting that they never used social media for health information.

“Notably,” the authors stated, “sizeable shares of adults who say they ‘never’ use social media to find health information and advice nonetheless report seeing these topics, including 7 in 10 who say they have seen weight loss, diet, and nutrition information on social media in the past month.”

Topics of health information varied according to the surveyed participants. A total of 72% reported that they were exposed to health information on social media that had to do with weight loss, diet, and nutrition within the past 30 days. Mental health was also popular on social media, with 58% reporting seeing content based on the topic in the previous 30 days. Vaccines (38%), abortion (30%), and birth control (22%) were far less frequently seen.

Content surrounding mental health (61% vs 49%), vaccines (43% vs 31%), abortion (35% vs 23%), and birth control (24% vs 15%) were more frequently seen by Democrats compared with Republicans. Black (34%) and Hispanic (29%) adults were less likely to see content about vaccines compared with White (41%) adults. Adults aged 18 to 29 years were more likely to see content regarding mental health (77% vs 67%), abortion (40% vs 30%), and birth control (39% vs 22%) compared with those aged 30 to 49 years, with the frequency of seeing content related to these topics decreasing by age; frequency of weight loss and vaccine content did not differ significantly by age.

Despite the frequency of use of social media to collect health information, less than 1 in 10 users of social media report trusting most of the information they received from any of the platforms. About a quarter of those using Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter) report trusting some of the information; about 3 in 10 participants reported trusting some of the information on YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit.

“Just over half (54%) of TikTok users ages 18 [to] 29 say ‘most’ or ‘some’ of the health information and advice they see on the app is trustworthy, as do about half (47%) of young YouTube users, and about 4 in 10 young Reddit (42%) and Instagram (38%) users,” the report stated.

About 15% of adults who use social media reported getting health information from an influencer. “Certain groups are more likely to report relying on social media influencers for health information and advice, including about one in five 18 [to] 29-year-olds (23%) and Black adults who use social media (21%),” the authors wrote.

A total of 39% of the surveyed adults believed that health influencers were serving public interest vs 61% who believed they were serving their own financial interests.

The survey builds on a similar survey done in 2024, which polled participants about their use of technology to receive health information.² In that survey, 56% of participants reported using social media every day or at least once a week to find health information, indicating that this trend has remained consistent year over year. The previous survey found that 32% of participants were very or somewhat confident in the answers that social media provided.

The polls from both 2024 and 2025 shine a light on how adults, especially young adults, get their health information and how much they trust the information that they are given. With the possibility of adults consuming misinformation on these websites, it is imperative to establish best practices for receiving health information in young adults to encourage information literacy as they consume health information online.

References

1. Schumacher S, Sparks G, Montalvo J III, Kirzinger A, Hamel L. KFF health information and trust tracking poll: health information and advice on social media. KFF. August 7, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.kff.org/health-information-trust/poll-finding/kff-health-information-and-trust-tracking-poll-health-information-and-advice-on-social-media/

2. KFF health misinformation tracking poll – August 2024. KFF. August 2024. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://files.kff.org/attachment/Topline-KFF-Health-Misinformation-Tracking-Poll-August-2024.pdf