- In 2020, the WHO coined the term “infodemic” to describe the abundance of information on the internet on a specific topic.
- The Global State of Digital 2022 research revealed the tastes and preferences of the population globally.
- Currently, Mexico ranks second in the world among the countries with the most Internet searches about symptoms of diseases and news about health.
Since the internet expanded to be within the reach of the majority of the world’s population, nothing has been the same. Geographical distances have been reduced because now everything is just a click away. It is also possible to keep abreast of what is happening anywhere on the planet in real time. This tool allows you to perform news on any topic, such as health, which offers both advantages and disadvantages.
For starters, the pandemic caused an even bigger change in most people. The appearance of the Covid-19 generated greater concern in the population about their own body.
At the same time, one of the main problems of the internet is that there is no real regulation. Therefore, anyone can post anything and it does not necessarily mean that it is true. In fact, fake news or false news have become popular.
Another problem is that saturation is often just as harmful as lack. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) coined the term infodemic to describe the abundance of information on the internet on a specific topic. The word is derived from the union of “information” and “epidemic”.
The health news problem
Now is the time to talk about the investigation. The Global State of Digital 2022. It is a work that analyzes the use of the Internet around the world. Although it is a tool that is within the reach of millions of people, not all of them use it for the same purpose.
Within the results of the work it is possible to know the countries with the most people who carry out Internet searches related to symptoms of diseases. What was obtained is that The first position is for Colombia because 40.6% of its population uses this practice.
For its part, it is noteworthy that second place goes to Mexico with 37.1%. Then there are Brazil with 33.9%, Nigeria with 33.7% and Kenya with 31.8%.
The results generate various conclusions. On the one hand, the positive thing is that people are interested in staying informed about aspects such as their health and the symptoms of diseases. Now all you need is a device with an internet connection to stay informed on any topic.
At the same time, a debate is also generated about whether this practice can be harmful. The problem is that looking for information on the internet about symptoms of diseases can promote the misdiagnosis and self-medication. Sometimes people do not verify their sources and believe absolutely everything they read in the digital world.
Similarly, health news is not always verified or supported. Therefore, they can cause a counterproductive effect because instead of transmitting information, the only thing they generate is confusion in the readers.
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