Question: How does social media imagery impact safety practices? For example, a well-known celebrity recently posted a video of her children forward-facing in their car seats way too early. Did this "influence" her followers to think that this unsafe practice is acceptable? And, if we see someone engaging in something unsafe on social media, like riding a bicycle without a helmet, what is the best way we can address that? 

 

Answer: These are great questions on an increasingly popular area. While there isn’t evidence for each of the specific situations, we break down what we do know.   

Parenting advice on social media: benefits & harms  

Since nearly 70% of adults report using social media, these platforms have the potential to make health information and parenting advice broadly accessible to everyone. The 2023 C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that most parents (80%) of young children aged 0-4 years used social media to discuss parenting topics for many reasons:  

  • they want to hear different ideas (62%),   
  • it’s convenient (27%),  
  • they want to parent differently than their own parents (25%),  
  • they don’t have family/friends nearby (9%),  
  • they aren’t able to ask their child’s healthcare provider (7%), or  
  • they are too embarrassed to ask a question in person (5%).  

Parents find social media sites to be very useful for finding new ideas and joining a supportive community. They reduce a sense of isolation when parenting is demanding and provide comfort through contact with others experiencing the same troubles and joys.  

However, in this survey, parents also noted major concerns. They saw other parents doing things that are unhealthy or dangerous for their child (43%), and they found it difficult to distinguish between good and bad advice (40%). There have been high-profile cases of social media influencers encouraging dangerous parenting practices like physical punishment or restricting kids’ access to food.  

How do influencers influence parents? 

A recently published systematic review found that parent influencers are relatable – they often authentically portray everyday experiences of parenthood online, communicating in an intimate way with their audiences. Parents – mostly mothers have been researched so far -- can develop a parasocial relationship (i.e. an imagined friendship with someone online not known in person) with influencers, and in fact influencers cultivate this closeness with followers to strengthen their “personal brand.” This can lead to influencers shaping viewers’ norms and attitudes about parenting, lifestyle, and products to purchase.  

Social media impacts people’s opinions and worldviews in a few ways. One is by seeing persistent imagery and messages that shape beliefs and values, according to cultivation theory. In addition, seeing other people behave in particular ways over and over can shape norms and expectations, according to social cognitive theory. Either way, the basic idea is that being immersed in messages does shift people’s ideas of what is normal and valuable.  

Personal opinion vs. science-backed parenting practices: How can we tell the difference? 

Parenting blogs and parent influencers’ profiles are not only places to find advice from public figures, but they are also spaces for fellow parents to share and discuss their own experiences. Another systematic review found that parents who comment on parenting-related posts often do so to promote their own personal standpoints. This means that parents may be wading through a lot of personal opinions in their goal of finding good parenting information, and that’s a lot of work.  

In one study, researchers analyzed parenting blogs and comments that parents posted about sun protection for kids. Less than half (41%) of the blog posts cited at least one piece of scientific evidence, which was even rarer in the comments (1%)! Importantly, comments tended to cite media sources and personal experiences, and sometimes conflicted with pediatric recommendations.  

Similarly, an observational study analyzed images on social media for adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) safe sleep guidelines. Only 117 (7.49%) of 1563 images were consistent with clinicians’ advice for safe infant sleeping practices and environments that help prevent infant suffocation.  

On the other end of the spectrum, health misinformation can trend on social media and influence parenting behaviors in a negative way. In a systematic review investigating health misinformation in social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Sina Weibo, VK, YouTube, Reddit, Myspace, Pinterest, WhatsApp), up to 87% of posts in some studies contained information that was misleading or untrue about health issues. 

In summary, unsafe or unhealthy behaviors are often shown on social media, sometimes by influential celebrities, and this can impact parents’ norms and behaviors. Therefore, just like we recommend digital literacy training for children and teens, we suggest that parents brush up their digital literacy skills too. 

What can parents do to combat health misinformation and gain valuable advice online about parenting practices? 

  • Engage with parent channels that specifically discuss digital literacy skills, research-based best practices, and social media. One YouTube parent channel that we find interesting for parents is How to Cook That with Ann Reardon. Ann helps parents improve their digital literacy skills by providing videos that break down YouTube’s algorithm, expose false advertising, and talk about bad social media behavior.  
  • See this article for steps to take to identify and prevent the spread of health misinformation that include: 
    • Paying attention to the date of the post. 
      • Scientific knowledge is always changing as new evidence is released! 
    • Cross-referencing to determine scientific consensus.  
      • Compare what you’re viewing to other content of reliable sources from the AAP, CDC, or other qualified health organizations. 
    • Weighing scientific evidence over individual anecdotes and stories. 
      • Prioritize information cited from scientific studies rather than solely personal experiences shared in social media imagery, captions, and comments. Just because one parent developed a method that works for them doesn’t mean it’s clinically recommended and right for you. 
  • Should you comment and criticize the unsafe behavior? 
    • It’s fine to calmly “call out” the unsafe behavior or inaccurate information in a post. We recommend doing this in a way that doesn’t insult or create more conflict, which can draw more attention to a post and unintentionally “reward” the influencer for posting something unsafe. Directly correcting a falsehood or unsafe behavior on social media is more likely to be effective within a trusted community, so may not be as helpful among strangers. 
    • You can also use flagging or reporting tools to let the platform know that the post makes you feel uncomfortable or you are worry it is violating platform policies around safety or misinformation. 
    • Finally, you can unfollow or mute a channel that has content you think is unsafe or wrong. Losing followers might be a lesson for influencers who have crossed a line. 
  • Refer to A Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation, developed by the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, for a checklist to use when coming across parenting- or health-related content you’re not sure about: 
    • Did you check with the CDC or local public health department to see whether there is any information about the claim being made? 
    • Did you ask a credible health care professional such as your doctor or nurse if they have any additional information? 
    • Did you type the claim into a search engine to see if it has been verified by a credible source? 
    • Did you look at the “About Us” page on the website (bio of a social media profile, or search online about the influencer’s credentials, profession, or qualifications) to see if you can trust the source? 
    • If you’re not sure, don’t share! 

References 

 

 

 

Age: 0-17 

Topics: learning parenting from influencers; early parenting and social media; influencers promoting unsafe practices; celebrity health behaviors; health misinformation; unsafe social media imagery 

Role: Clinician 

 

Last Updated

07/24/2024

Source

American Academy of Pediatrics