Don’t Get Your Diabetes Info From Facebook

For all our diabetes-laden friends out there, a word of caution:  Don’t trust everything you read on Facebook.

A recent study shows that the vast majority of information to be found on social media related to diabetes isn’t necessarily accurate. The study (underwritten by CVS) was conducted by researchers at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.  Some figures:

• Examining the 15 largest Facebook diabetes communities found that 25% of the comments were “promotional in nature, generally for non-FDA approved products, raising important concerns about the authenticity of participants on Facebook networking sites dedicated to diabetes.”
• There were also surveys, marketing pitches and efforts to recruit people for clinical trials.
• Researchers evaluated Facebook sites with an average of 9,300 participants and a total of 690 individual posts on Walls by 480 unique users.
• 66% of these were people describing their personal experiences.
• About 24% was information “unlikely to be shared between patient and doctors, such as individuals discussing carbohydrate management in the setting of alcohol consumption.”
• 29% were emotionally supportive between diabetics.
• 27% was promotional, often of non-FDA approved items.

So, diabetics of the world, just keep in mind that Facebook is not the best place to get your diabetes information.  It may be fun and convenient, but your health is MUCH more important.  If you do want some good information on diabetes, or at least a reliable place to find resources, try the CDC or the American Diabetes Association.