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Although health providers are the most common place Americans turn for information about their health, social media influencers and podcasts also play a major role.

About this research

This Pew Research Center analysis looks at the experiences of young men and young women when it comes to getting health and wellness information from social media influencers and podcasts.

Why did we do this?

Medical professionals are the most common source of health information among U.S. adults. But many people get information about their health from sources outside of the doctor’s office, including social media. We did this study to better understand who Americans might be hearing from when they get health and wellness information on social media.

How did we do this?

This analysis is based on two surveys of U.S. adults. The first one surveyed 5,023 adults in June 2025, and the second surveyed 5,111 adults in October 2025. Both used the Center’s American Trends Panel.

Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

This is especially true for young women: 57% of women ages 18 to 29 say they ever get health and wellness information from influencers. That is 10 percentage points higher than the share of young men, according to a fall 2025 Pew Research Center survey.

Here are some other notable findings about the experiences young men and women have with health and wellness influencers.

Topics young men and women hear about from health and wellness influencers

We asked about seven topics that people might hear about from health and wellness influencers. Half or more of both young men and young women say they hear about nearly all of these topics at least sometimes.

Young women are especially likely to say they often see influencer content about beauty and appearance. Among those who get health and wellness information from influencers, 51% of young women say they often hear about this topic. A much smaller share of young men (18%) often hear about it.

Young women are also around twice as likely as young men to say they often see content about alternative medicine.

However, comparable shares of young men and young women say they often hear about mental health and weight loss from influencers. A third or more of both groups say they often hear about these topics. And around half or more of both young men and young women say they often see fitness content.

Why young men and women get information from health and wellness influencers

Around half of young women who get health and wellness information from influencers (51%) say that wanting to make a change in their health or lifestyle is a major reason for doing so. By contrast, 37% of young men say this.

Somewhat larger shares of young women than young men also say that hearing from people who share their background or beliefs (23% vs. 14%) or learning about things they don’t want to ask their doctor about (19% vs. 10%) are major reasons why they get information from these influencers.

Note: Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

Aaron Smith is director of Data Labs at Pew Research Center.