Journalist’s Resources: “Many Americans are turning to the internet with their health questions. And their use of the internet to seek answers isn’t limited to search engines and established health resources. Researchers at Microsoft analyzed survey and search data to find that “a surprising amount of sensitive health information is also sought and shared via social media.”

While social media helps connect people with similar experiences, it also carries significant pitfalls. In an op-ed published in Nature, Heidi Larson, an anthropologist and director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, writes: “The deluge of conflicting information, misinformation and manipulated information on social media should be recognized as a global public-health threat.”

Is it possible to stem the tide of misinformation online? If it is, what are the most effective ways to do so? We turned to a source of high-quality information – peer-reviewed academic research – to look for answers. Below we’ve summarized seven recent academic studies on the efficacy of interventions used to correct health misinformation. It’s worth noting that the first three studies included in this roundup focus on a small group of students from one university. Additionally, all of these studies are behavioral experiments, which tend to have relatively small sample sizes, and are intended to complement other forms of research…”