The Dispatch When the lines between expert and huckster are increasingly blurry, how do we determine what’s authoritative? Health communication—especially across social media—has become that pooling equilibrium. It used to be the case that when the results of scientific studies were disseminated, the messaging came from your doctor or national organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These organizations are by no means perfect, but this messaging was developed by people trained in interpreting medical data and putting it in a broader context. Their messaging was often based on thorough reviews of many studies and expert consensus. Part of what dictated this structure was the fact that access to these studies was limited and excluded the general public, creating a barrier that generated this separating equilibrium.
Separating Snake Oil From Science
- Published May 21, 2025