The data: Consumers’ distrust of social media health information has climbed to a new high, according to a September Axios/Ipsos survey of 1,122 US adults. The survey is conducted multiple times a year, allowing comparisons over time.

• 86% said they had not very much or no trust at all in health information on social media.
• Consumers’ distrust in social media health information has consistently remained high—hovering between 80% and 85% in the last five survey waves—but this year marks a new peak.

Zooming in: Consumers’ trust in social media health content varies sharply depending on the source, per the survey.

• 57% trust medical professionals posting on social media a great deal (16%) or a fair amount (41%).
• Just 13% say the same about health and wellness influencers. Only 2% trust them a great deal, and 11% a fair amount.
• Overall, trust in both creator categories has slipped a few percentage points since the March and June surveys.

Why it matters: The Axios-Ipsos poll didn’t examine why consumers strongly distrust social media health information or why trust is slightly falling, but a few recent trends may help explain the findings.

AI-generated deepfakes are making social media health misinformation harder to identify. Synthetic videos and impersonations of medical professionals endorsing fake supplements, counterfeit weight loss pills, and unproven health cures can generate millions of views on social media. As realistic deepfakes proliferate on social media, consumers have more reason to question whether health content there is authentic and will have a harder time separating legitimate medical advice from fraudulent endorsements.

At the same time, AI is emerging as a strong competitor to social media as a trusted source of health information. While only a small fraction of people trust social media creators for health info, one-third of all consumers trust AI outputs—and that spikes to 69% among people who have used AI for information about their physical health, per March KFF polling.

So, why the sharp contrast in trust levels? Chatbots and AI tools offer consumers something social media often cannot: personalization and objectivity. AI provides personalized answers to specific health questions and delivers the impression of objectivity because its responses are free from personalities, sponsorships, or product promotion.

Meanwhile, commercialization is making it harder to separate health influencers' motivations from their advice.

• 38% of health and wellness influencer posts promote a product or service, per new Pew Research Center data.
• Among influencers who promote products, 92% do so at least occasionally, while 33% include promotions in at least half their posts.

Frequent health product pitches make it hard for consumers to tell if health influencer advice is grounded in science or driven by a commission. That constant commercial push helps explain why audiences trust medical professionals far more than wellness influencers.

Implications for healthcare and pharma marketers: Declining trust in social media health information doesn’t mean declining engagement. Consumers, especially younger generations, continue to engage with health content on social platforms, which gives healthcare and pharma marketers an opening to counter perceptions of social media health information as untrustworthy.

Social media’s advantage over AI-generated health information is direct access to credible voices who can share firsthand experiences and demonstrate expertise. Marketers should prioritize content that clearly establishes the source’s qualifications, backs health claims with evidence, and distinguishes medical guidance from paid promotion.