TY - JOUR T1 - Users' Guides to the Medical Literature series on social media (part 1): how to interpret healthcare information available on platforms JF - BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine JO - BMJ EBM SP - 11 LP - 14 DO - 10.1136/bmjebm-2021-111817 VL - 27 IS - 1 AU - Ryan S D'Souza AU - Lubna Daraz AU - W. Michael Hooten AU - Gordon Guyatt AU - Mohammad Hassan Murad Y1 - 2022/02/01 UR - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/27/1/11.abstract N2 - This series includes two articles about health information on social media platforms. This is the first article in which we present a framework for clinicians to appraise and interpret data directly derived from these platforms. The second article provides a framework for clinicians to appraise and interpret studies that used such data.1 Social media and network websites, commonly referred to as Web V.2.0, were first introduced in 2004 and have since gained prominence in contemporary culture. In 2017, approximately 70% of Americans used social media platforms to communicate—an increase from 5% in 2005.2 Over 40% of healthcare consumers use social media platforms for healthcare information, and approximately 90% of consumers in the 18–24 year age group believe healthcare information conveyed on social media.2 Use of social media for health-related issues includes blogging, microblogging, social networks, professional networks, video/audio media, collaborative projects, virtual gaming and social worlds. The challenge has therefore evolved from finding information to assessing its credibility and relevance. A substantial risk of disseminating misleading information exists, which may adversely influence patients’ perceptions, adherence and medical care.3–7 When information from social media influences patients’ healthcare beliefs and actions, clinicians must deal with the consequences. Clinicians therefore require a framework to help interpret data on these platforms as well as the studies that analyse them. To develop this framework, we used previously validated instruments including the Health on the Net (HON) Code of Conduct8; DISCERN criteria9; Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria10; and the minervation validation instrument for healthcare web sites (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (LIDA) instrument).11 These tools have been identified as the most widely used instruments.12–14 A clinician discussing the COVID-19 vaccine with an elderly patient with multiple comorbidities finds that the patient is … ER -