Junk Science Blogs: 4 Signs You May Be Unknowingly Following One

The internet is growing uncontrollably. Ultra-fast information transfer is happening across this world via a network of communication satellites. Nearly everything has changed with the onset of internet, and over the past years we’ve seen vast improvements in technology, communication and virtual entertainment. All thanks to the internet. The internet has also been pivotal in introducing improvements for education purposes; one can access online courses, supplemental information for a subject of their choice, and expert health and nutrition advice. The internet has opened up a substantial amount of knowledge to a wide audience around the globe. But it can also be a minefield… The era of information failure Einstein said: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.” Information failure can happen when the participants don’t have perfect knowledge, or when one set of participants know more than the others causing information asymmetry. An information failure is often detrimental; causing confusion and uncertainty. It can affect a lot of subject areas, particularly health and nutrition. According to recent reports: 80% of the population from developed countries (like the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Japan, Canada, France, etc.) use the internet. 70% to 80% of us use the internet to search for health information online (Tonksaker, 2014 , HINTS, Pew Internet and the European Commission). These are really staggering stats. But they come at a high price: we now have an increased risk of damage caused by information failure. For all we know, there could be millions of bloggers spreading wrong advice about health and nutrition… putting their followers’ health at risk.

Our world is full of big and unstructured data. However, bigger doesn’t always mean better. The value of data is determined by the quality of its analysis. While simplification of the conclusion is necessary to target a wider audience, a balance must be maintained so as not to distort it. Here’s one simple example of causal oversimplification: “When the team won the last game, the coach said his team had pizza before the game… surely the team won because of the pizza they had, therefore one must have pizza before the game to win the game”. Can you see the weird logic? Two unrelated topics have been linked and used as evidence to back up a made-up conclusion. Many health bloggers intentionally link unrelated data to mislead their audience, giving them a false sense of satisfaction.

Read more: https://thehealthsciencesacademy.org