Social Media Users' Perception of Health Guidance: A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: The advancement of digital technologies, especially social media, has broadened the reach of health education initiatives, enabling nurses and other health professionals to share guidance on disease prevention, self-care, and health promotion with wider and more diverse audiences. Objective: Describe how social media users utilize and evaluate health information disseminated by professionals. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, descriptive study with a quantitative approach, conducted with 101 social media users. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling through a structured questionnaire on the Google Forms platform. Individuals aged 18 or older, users of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and TikTok were included. Data collection took place between March and April 2026. Results: 101 social media users participated, 74.3% of whom were male. It was observed that 45.8% frequently sought health information on social media, with official websites being the main sources (61.5%). Regarding information verification, 42.7% reported always verifying the veracity of information before believing or sharing it, while 25% did so occasionally. Furthermore, 50% rarely received false information, but 32.5% reported this occurring frequently. All participants recognized the importance of identifying false information for health protection, although 46.9% stated they had already made decisions based exclusively on information obtained from social media. Conclusion: Social media plays a relevant role in the search for health information and influences decision-making. However, challenges related to the reliability of information and the critical use of content persist, highlighting the need to strengthen health education strategies in the digital environment.