Blog

Authors: Tatyana El-Kour, PhD student, MA, MS, RDN, FAND, Jerri Lynn Hogg, PhD, and Dan Sewell, PhD

Original Publication Site & Date: APA August 2018, San Francesco, CA

Abstract: Facebook is today’s dominant social medium that affects instant sharing and communication of information and influences how the information is perceived. No research has been done to investigate the phenomenon of Facebook use and exposure to nutrition misinformation among Arabs who use Facebook. The study aims to explore the phenomenon of Facebook use by interviewing 20 volunteer participants until saturation was reached while predicting exposure to nutrition misinformation from Facebook using data of 166 respondents who fully completed a web survey. Linear and multiple regression calculations were used and revealed statistically significant relationships between variables.

We conclude that Facebook is both the medium and the message for exposure to nutrition misinformation, but it may not be the only message given that other determinants are related to exposure as well. While Facebook is the medium of social connections, participants showed how Facebook changed the way they behaved around nutrition misinformation. Findings suggest the need for further study investigating whether people are more influenced by the nutrition information shared within Facebook, or if they are more socially influenced by Facebook features themselves, and the engagement they bring with other social media platforms as a result. There is also a need to understand how exposure to nutrition misinformation on Facebook is contributing to unhealthy disordered eating behaviors and how to better utilize the platform to augment exposure to evidence-based information.

Presented by
Tatyana El-Kour, MA, MS, RDN, FAND, PhD student

Institution
Media Psychology, School of Psychology
Fielding Graduate University