As debates over the safety of childhood vaccines and trust in public health guidance play out in the U.S., findings from the latest KFF/Washington Post Survey of Parents reveal how parents encounter health information on social media and how it may shape their decisions. One-third (34%) of parents say they have seen social media content related to childhood vaccines and about three in ten report seeing children’s health-related content on social media weekly or daily (29%). Notably, many parents find it difficult to discern whether health-related information they see online is trustworthy (38%), and few say there is a particular influencer they trust when it comes to information about children’s health (15%). Regardless, only a small share of parents says children’s vaccine-related information on social media affects them, with 4% saying it has made it easier to make vaccine decisions for their children and another 4% saying it has made these decisions more difficult.
Parents’ Exposure to Children’s Health-Related Content
Many parents report seeing social media content related to children’s health, even if they are not actively seeking it out. About eight in ten (79%) parents say they see information or advice about children’s health at least occasionally, compared to just one in five (21%) who say they never see this content. About three in ten (29%) parents say they see information or advice about children’s health on social media daily (11%) or weekly (18%). About one in ten reports seeing this content about once a month (12%), and about four in ten report seeing it occasionally (38%).
Compared to their counterparts, larger shares of parents under age 35 (36%), mothers (35%), Black parents (33%), Hispanic parents (36%), and Democratic parents (33%) say they see this content at least weekly, even if they are not looking for it.
Do Parents Trust Influencers When It Comes to General Health and Wellness Advice?
Some of the health-related content shared on social media comes from influencers, individuals who have a large following on social media and often post about issues of interest. While some social media users follow specific influencers, others may be exposed to posts from influencers they don’t follow, as algorithms promote content likely to interest them. With recent moves from large tech companies to get rid of third party fact checking, assessing the validity of this content can be tricky.
This KFF/Washington Post Survey of Parents shows many parents find it difficult to know what to trust when it comes to health content shared by influencers. While about a third (35%) of parents say it is “very easy” or “somewhat easy” to know what advice to trust when it comes from health and wellness influencers they see on social media, about four in ten (38%) say it is “somewhat difficult” or “very difficult.” This includes between one-third and four in ten parents across gender, age, race, ethnicity, and partisanship that say it is at least “somewhat difficult” to discern whether advice from influencers is trustworthy.
About one in seven (15%) parents say there is a particular influencer they trust when it comes to information and advice about children’s health, though just 4% can name the influencer while one in eight (12%) say they can’t remember the influencer’s name. About eight in ten (84%) parents say there is either no particular influencer on social media they trust when it comes to information and advice about children’s health (58%) or that they do not see content from health and wellness influencers (27%).
Of the few parents who were able to name an influencer they trust (4%), the names mentioned include a variety of individuals and social media accounts. Very few influencers were mentioned by more than one parent who responded to the survey, suggesting that the health information parents get from influencers represents a spectrum of quality and viewpoints. While some influencers named (including “Dr. Beachgem10” and “Dr. Lauren Hughes”) appear from their profiles to be practicing medical doctors, many others are celebrities or other personalities without medical credentials.
The share of parents who say they have a particular influencer they trust most when it comes to information and advice about children’s health varies by age, race, ethnicity, and vaccine decisions. Younger parents (21%), Black parents (21%), and Hispanic parents (18%) are more likely than their counterparts to say there is an influencer they trust, though few can name a specific influencer. Parents who report having ever skipped or delayed a vaccine for their children are also more likely than those who have kept their children up to date on vaccines to say there is an influencer they trust for advice about children’s health (20% v. 14%), though few in either group can name the influencer. Similar shares of supporters of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement (15%) and non-MAHA supporters (15%) also say this.
When asked which comes closest to their view, about eight in ten (84%) parents say health influencers are mostly motivated by “financial interests” while 15% say they are mostly motivated by “serving the public interest.” Large majorities of parents across age, race and ethnicity, and partisanship say health influencers are motivated by financial interests, though Black parents and younger parents are more likely than their counterparts to say health influencers are motivated by serving the public good (26% and 19%, respectively) – the same groups who are more likely to say there is a specific influencer they trust when it comes to information and advice about children’s health.
Childhood Vaccine-Related Content on Social Media
Childhood vaccine recommendations have been a frequent subject of news coverage since the appointment of HHS Secretary Kennedy, including changes and actions at the state and federal levels. These changes may leave parents with questions, and some may turn to social media for advice.
The KFF/Washington Post Survey of Parents finds one-third (34%) of parents say they have ever seen information or advice about vaccines for children on social media. Notably, nearly half (45%) of parents who have skipped or delayed vaccines for their children aside from COVID-19 or flu say they have seen content related to vaccines for children online, compared to about one-third (32%) of parents who have kept their children up to date who say the same.
Compared to their counterparts, somewhat larger shares of mothers (37%), parents under age 35 (38%), and parents who support the MAHA movement (37%) say they have ever seen information online about children’s vaccines.
About one in five (19%) parents say they see vaccine content that is a “mix of both” pro- and anti-vaccine, while fewer see content that is “mostly pro-vaccine” (8%) or “mostly anti-vaccine” (7%). Notably, among parents who report skipping or delaying vaccines for their children, similar shares say they see mostly anti-vaccine (12%) or mostly pro-vaccine (10%) content online, and about one in four (24%) report seeing a mix of both.
Democratic parents are more likely to say they see pro-vaccine content online than Republican parents (13% vs. 7%), while similar shares report seeing mostly anti-vaccine content (7% and 8%). About one in seven (15%) Democratic parents and one in five Republican and independent parents see content that is mostly a mix of both.
While MAHA supporters are slightly more likely to say they have ever seen content related to childhood vaccines online, similar shares of MAHA supporters and non-MAHA supporters overall say they see mostly pro-vaccine content or mostly anti-vaccine content.
As many parents report lack of trust in health and wellness influencers, and amidst the broader confusion and uncertainty the public feels about what is true online, few parents say exposure to content about children’s vaccines has made the decision easier (4%) or harder (4%) to make vaccine decisions for their children. One-quarter (26%) of parents say exposure to childhood vaccine-related information on social media has not made it easier nor more difficult to make decisions about vaccinating their own children.
These shares are similar across parent age, partisanship, race, and ethnicity. Among parents who report skipping or delaying vaccines for their children, 9% say social media content has made their decisions easier, 7% say it has made it harder, and three in ten say it hasn’t made much difference.
