What's your medical clickbait?

This, my friends, is an elevator button that says ‘i fart’.

Now, stop and ask yourself – did this picture entice you to read today’s post? Did it suck you in? If it did, now ask – have you ever Dr-googled yourself, then landed on a website where something extraordinary, dramatic, weird, or funny drew you in? And then consider – did you take the information for truth?

As blogged previously, the internet is rife with misinformation and overdramatization of everything health. It can be really tough to figure out what is true or accurate, and what may be over/underrepresentation of truth, or full out incorrect.

Here are some ways to find the pearls of trustworthy information amongst the ocean of seaweed:

Choose websites from internationally renowned medical clinics (eg Mayo Clinic)
Read information from medical websites that includes information for professionals (eg Medscape, Healio)
Read information from national medical organizations (Canadian examples: Obesity Canada, Diabetes Canada)
Look for websites that have less or no advertising. If money is generated by number of hits/clicks, it may be tempting to overdramatize or give misinformation that will get and keep readers engaged.
If the clickbait that got you to a website is actually unrelated to the topic, it’s probably not a good place to be reading.
Look for websites that reference articles from medical journals.
Interviews with authors of papers from medical journals, or presenters at medical conferences, are usually good.
Avoid testimonials (good or bad) on social media websites. These are by nature one person’s experience only, and may have secondary gains (eg getting more followers, monetary gain from clicks, etc)
Look for sources where potential conflicts of interest are clearly listed.
Be cautious of websites that are trying to sell you something.

I started today’s post with the picture of the ‘i fart’ button, as an example of how clickbait can draw us in. My readers know that this is not how I roll – I just wanted to make this point today. And I bet you are still wanting to know what this button is all about! Soooo… In Danish (my first language), ‘i fart’ means ‘in motion’. We all know what it means in English.

Just to make a point… and maybe for a little giggle 😉 .

Check me out on X/twitter! @drsuepedersen

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