How your health is being commodified by social media

"For much of the past century, doctors had a near-monopoly on medical knowledge. That is changing fast. There is a whole parallel system rising up, powered by consumer health. Anywhere there is a gap - in getting care, answers or reassurance - commercial players are jumping in. Health tech start-ups, apps, diagnostics, online clinics, influencers - they are all competing for authority, and figuring out how to monetise it."

"Along the way, our symptoms, traumas and treatments - and even the fuzzy line between being unwell and regular discomfort - are being commodified. You see it all over: podcast hosts pitching treatments while glossing over conflicts of interest; influencers monetising their diagnoses; conditions turned into memes and merch; clinicians casting themselves as rebels taking on a broken system while selling treatments or tests."

"There now seems to be a solution for every discomfort and a product for every aspiration. Fitness trackers tally our steps and sleep. Meditation apps package calm for a monthly fee. More and more, our biology is turned into metrics - highly marketable ones not always tied to better health. We track biomarkers whether or not changing them helps. Genetic tests and personalised nutrition plans promise a "new, better you", while evidence often trails hype."

Money increasingly shapes health as consumer-facing commercial players fill gaps left by overstretched healthcare systems. Health tech start-ups, apps, diagnostics, online clinics and influencers compete for authority and monetize medical knowledge once dominated by doctors. Personal biology is converted into marketable metrics: fitness trackers, meditation subscriptions, biomarker monitoring, genetic tests and personalised nutrition promise improvements often ahead of evidence. Symptoms, traumas and the boundary between illness and normal discomfort are commodified through monetised content, sponsored endorsements and clinician-marketed services. Digital platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook host health advice driven by opaque algorithms, complicating regulation and increasing direct-to-consumer influence.

Read at New Scientist