Up to 35% of older Americans — and half of adults under 50 — get health information and advice from social media influencers and podcasters, most of whom are not health care professionals, according to a Pew Research Center report published online May 7, 2026. Researchers analyzed the posts of 6,828 content producers, each of whom had at least 100,000 followers on social media, and regularly posted about health and wellness or hosted a top-ranked podcast that covered these topics. The