Patients-turned-social-media-influencers routinely offer prescription drug advice to their followers and often have close ties with pharmaceutical companies, 博彩平台推荐的一项新研究表明.

但研究发现，他们往往也有良好的意图.

这项研究于本周发表 发表在《博彩app推荐》上, provides some of the first insights into the burgeoning, loosely regulated world of so-called “病人有影响力的人”, 分享26个深度访谈的发现，博彩app推荐他们为什么和如何做到这一点.

“The bottom line here is that patient influencers act as a form of interactive direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, sharing their knowledge and experiences on pharmaceutical drugs with communities of followers in which they wield great influence,作家艾琳·威利斯说, 广告学副教授, 公共关系和媒体设计. “这引发了需要进一步调查的伦理问题.”

The study comes amid growing concerns about the harmful consequences of drug promotion on social media.

最近几周, in the wake of a slew of TikTok videos and Twitter posts touting the weight loss benefits of the diabetes drug Ozempic, patients who need the medication to manage their disease have faced global shortages. 与此同时, those taking it “off-label” to slim down have experienced surprising side-effects, 包括严重腹泻和面部极度消瘦.

“This is a great example of the power of social media and the unintended consequences,威利斯说。.

一种新的广告

从20世纪80年代开始就备受争议, 而且只在美国和新西兰有售, DTC广告使制药公司能够直接瞄准消费者, 而不仅仅是通过医生. About half of the people who ask their doctor about a drug after seeing a TV ad get it.

随着人们对制药公司和传统媒体信任度的下降, 制药商现在把真正的病人当作信使, 像这样的公司 健康联盟 将他们连接起来建立伙伴关系.

Willis进行了一对一的调查, Zoom在一系列条件下对网红进行了长达一小时的采访, 包括红斑狼疮, 纤维肌痛症, 帕金森病, 哮喘, 艾滋病毒, 乳糜泻, 慢性偏头痛和更年期. 26家公司中有18家以某种方式与制药公司合作.

大多数都有1000到4万名粉丝. Such “micro influencers” tend to be less expensive for advertisers to work with than celebrities, and research has shown they have the most influence on purchasing behaviors, 威利斯说.

一些受访者直接发布博彩app推荐稿. 其他人则阅读有关药物的研究，并为追随者翻译研究结果. 其中一些人受雇为制药公司发布内容.

“健康 literacy and digital literacy are both concerningly low in this country,威利斯说。, noting that consumers often fail to recognize the difference between a sponsored ad and an altruistic personal post. “The fact that patients with no medical training are broadly sharing drug information should alarm us.”

良好的意愿

On the positive side, Willis was heartened by the reasons participants become influencers.

Almost all said they were drawn to their roles by a sense that the answers they sought as patients, 其他频道没有.

“I spent a lot of time looking for diabetes information that related to me—an African American woman from the South,一位研究参与者报告说. “我没有看到我需要什么，所以我创造了它.”

Others were motivated by a wish to destigmatize disability in certain communities.

“There’s still not a lot of talk about Latinos and 艾滋病毒,” said another participant. “当有信息时，它在文化上是不合适的.”

五个人说他们从不分享有关毒品的信息, 声称他们认为这是“近乎不道德的”.”

Others said they would only post about drugs they personally had been prescribed and taken and always encouraged followers to consult with their doctor. 他们都说，他们一般都努力遵守道德规范.

“It’s comforting that the people we interviewed generally want to stay abreast of the science and be a credible source,威利斯说。. “但我也知道，医生上医学院是有原因的.”

担忧比比皆是

Several influencers reported that followers frequently private message them to get detailed information about dosage and side effects.

“在一个网络社区里, 还有其他人会说, 这不是真的，或者这不是我所经历的.’”威利斯说。. “但在社交媒体上，很多对话都是私下进行的.”

Willis also worries that influencers may stress the upsides of medications without fully disclosing the side-effects. 例如, she references a famously controversial 2015 post by celebrity influencer Kim Kardashian, singing the praises of a “#morningsickness” drug called Diclegis to her tens of millions of followers on Instagram.

The Food and Drug 政府 swiftly flagged the post for omitting the drug’s long list of risks, required Kardashian to remove the post and dinged the drug maker with a warning letter. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) now requires influencers to disclose whether they are paid via hashtags, 例如#ad或#sponcon, and the Food and Drug 政府 has rules on what can be said on social posts. 但这些规则是可以解释的, 和视频, 消失的内容和直接消息很难追踪.

Willis acknowledged that her sample was a small one and that because many of her interviewees were referred to her by 健康联盟, 他们可能倾向于负责任的一方. 在未来的研究中, 她打算扩大样本量, explore how influencers impact treatment decisions and investigate compensation for and regulations around patient influencers.

Analysts predict the influencer marketing industry as a whole will be valued at $21.2023年将达到10亿美元.

随着患者影响者越来越多地在其中找到自己的位置, Willis contends that regulators should work harder to keep up with all the new platforms.

“This is happening, with or without regulation, and people should be aware of it,” Willis said.