"One in every two people has Helicobacter pylori", "The child's mouth breathing is adenoid hypertrophy, and it must be treated early", "High uric acid? Look at these consequences......" On social platforms, similar medical science is not uncommon. High-impact videos and highly rendered copy often make people feel as if they are "terminally ill".
Banyuetan reporter's investigation found that some social media accounts exaggerated their illness and deceived likes under the guise of medical science, and sold products with precision marketing. Internet medical science popularization is an efficient path for technology inclusion, but it has become a "traffic password" to spread anxiety to win attention.
Chilling medical science
"At first, it was just a sore arm, but I searched the internet for symptoms, and now I'm convinced that I have cancer. A widely circulated joke on the Internet reveals the current situation of some Internet medical accounts exaggerating popular science and spreading anxiety.
Mr. Ou from Jiangxi has suffered from gastrointestinal diseases for many years, and not long ago, he swiped a popular science video on the short video platform of a gastroenterologist certified by the platform as a gastroenterologist in a tertiary hospital in Beijing. "Originally, my gastrointestinal function was fragile, and when I read that there is a video content with Helicobacter pylori for every two people, it immediately caught my attention. He said.
"I thought that I could use the Internet to become a master of bringing babies, but I didn't expect that the more I watched, the more anxious I became, and the more I watched, the more scared I became. Ms. Zhao, a mother in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, said that after she gave birth, she followed and searched for a lot of parenting videos on social platforms and short video platforms, and some of the videos made her "sleep badly after watching them". "For example, many accounts said that the child's sleeping mouth breathing is adenoid hypertrophy, and it needs surgery, I saw that my child was breathing through the mouth, and I was very worried at the time, until I saw the doctor and said that there was no problem, so I was not afraid. ”
"Pseudoscience" content is also common. Ms. Wang, a young mother from Beijing, said that she followed many parenting accounts on short video websites, and later discovered that the identity of these parenting accounts was confused. Some parenting self-media accounts are called "XX Parenting Sutra", and the account authentication subject does not have any medical education background, but often publishes some so-called parenting knowledge, such as "Eating more grapes can make the baby's eyes big and bright" and "Feeding sugar water to reduce jaundice", Ms. Wang was skeptical.
"These self-media often have more than 100,000 views, which confuses us. Ms. Wang said that some parenting self-media are even keen to shoot all kinds of short dramas, in order to increase credibility, put on a white coat and pretend to be a doctor, self-directed and self-staged some medical scenes, seriously misleading parents.
There are many medical science routines
In the lower left corner of the video Mr. Ou viewed, there is a link called "Helicobacter pylori Specialized Disease Center", which leads to an online medical service platform. Mr. Ou said: "I don't know if the link on the video is the behavior of the platform or the doctor, in short, the content displayed on the page has nothing to do with the doctor, and it is not the website of the doctor's hospital." ”
Banyuetan reporters searched for relevant medical science content on the short video platform provided by Mr. Ou and found that jump links to other platforms often appeared in the lower left corner of the video. In addition to the knowledge of related diseases, it also has an online consultation function, which ranges from a few yuan to hundreds of yuan according to the different consultation methods such as graphics, videos, and telephone calls and the doctor's qualifications.
According to the relevant person in charge of Kuaishou, medical "pseudo-science" has a very significant motive, by shaping a professional identity, impersonating a doctor, seizing the weakness of human nature, and inducing users to spend money on consultation or buy drugs at a high price.
At the beginning of 2023, when Mr. Xie from Shanghai was browsing oral related content on the search platform, the page popped up from time to time with the prompt "Authoritative Expert Online Consultation". "I had a terrible toothache and I clicked on it. Mr. Xie said that the system first asked for basic information such as gender, age, and medical condition, and then he spent 30 yuan to choose a doctor who claimed to be a tertiary hospital.
What he didn't expect was that after entering the consultation page, he could only ask a few questions to the doctor, and if he wanted to consult further, he had to add the doctor's WeChat. "Originally, I had already paid, but after adding the doctor's WeChat, he also asked me to transfer 10 yuan to continue the consultation. He said that after the WeChat consultation, the doctor prescribed him medicine and told him to return to the original consultation platform and buy the medicine through the link provided by the platform.
Pseudo-popular science is very harmful, and rectification must be strengthened
In recent years, "Internet + Healthcare" has developed rapidly, effectively integrating medical resources and improving patients' medical experience. The number of short video users in mainland China exceeds 900 million, and more and more patients are using short videos to obtain health knowledge. However, under the shadow of "pseudo-science", the price of patients being fooled is not only the loss of money, but also the price of health.
Zhou Song, deputy chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, told the reporter that last year, the parents of a young patient approached him and said that the patient listened to the words of a self-proclaimed old expert and took the "ancestral secret recipe" Chinese patent medicine advertised on the Internet for half a year, which not only did not cure the necrosis of the original femoral head, but even caused necrosis of the femoral head on both sides.
"Some drugs, especially some Chinese patent medicines sold online, do not have a unified batch number of the country, and do not have detailed information such as manufacturers, which are three-no products. Zhou Song said that some doctors are not just popularizing science, but may also have the purpose of promoting products, drugs or soliciting patients.
In addition, some organizations will establish partnerships with hospitals or doctors to help them create online personas and operate personal accounts.
Zhao Qiang, who has been engaged in Internet marketing planning for many years, said that after these accounts accumulate a certain number of fans, they will take a business path of "increasing fans, bringing goods, and realizing". "To put it simply, it is to first shape the account into an expert and a person who has come over, attract traffic through graphics and videos, and then give away free treatments through private messages, join fan groups and other means to realize the realization of goods. ”
A number of interviewed heads of the medical sector of social platforms said that the urgent demand for traffic will make these "pseudo-popular science" continue to confront the platform's regulatory strategy. "For example, if an account uses a loop of background material to broadcast live, and through comments, stickers and other informal diversion, it is difficult for the platform to identify. ”
To combat the "pseudo-science" hurting people, patients also need to enhance their awareness of self-protection, go to the hospital's official website to authenticate the doctor, and receive formal online diagnosis and treatment services through the Internet hospital. In addition, for the embarrassing situation of patients who "have no way to complain", the relevant responsible departments should be clarified, and a market supervision mechanism with clear rights and responsibilities should be established to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of patients.
Source: Half Moon Talk