HOSA Biomedical Debate 2026

Why have companies increasingly moved product advertising to social media?

It reaches millions of global customers.

According to Greene et al., food and beverage brands use social media to:

Blur the line between entertainment and advertising.

A benefit of social media advertising compared to traditional advertising.

Tailored messages to specific audiences.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, marketing of which products increased on social media?

Alcohol

Social media has been described as a "vector" that enables:

Risky behaviours and associated diseases.

Which personality traits are commonly used by brands to increase engagement?

Humor and trendy language

Memes and sarcasm are often used by brands to:

Comment on trends and current events.

Why are children and young people particularly vulnerable to social media marketing?

They are more susceptible to marketing techniques.

One challenge in regulating social media advertising is:

It crosses international borders

Public health organizations are increasingly using social media for:

Health promotion campaigns

Successful public health campaigns often include:

Compelling emotions and a clear call to action

The Tips from Former Smokers Campaign was successful largely because it:

Shared personal stories from real people.

Commonly used impact metrics for social media campaigns include:

Views, shares, and comments

A limitation of current campaign evaluations is that they:

Do not clearly show long-term behaviour change

A unique aspect of social media advertising is the ability to:

Personalize ads to individual interests

Engagement-optimizing algorithms aim to:

Increase time spent on platforms

Companies can purchase access to audiences based on:

User demographics and interests

Citizen science approaches can help researchers:

Understand targeted advertising algorithms

Social media recruitment for research is beneficial because it:

Reaches specific audiences at a lower cost.

Ethical concerns in social media research are beneficial because they:

Privacy and transparency

Influcencer-sponsored content is often perceived as:

More authentic and trusted

Studies found that what percentage of children's online food promotions were peer-endorsed?

60%

The rise of the "doctorfluencer" helps to:

Provide evidence-based health information

Public health experts are encouraged to:

Embrace social media with personality and tailored messaging.

The overall conclusion of the passage suggests that public health should:

Shift social media from enemy to friend

What was the main aim of the systematic review?

To synthesize evidence on the impact of social media influencers on health outcomes.

Which type of studies were included in the review?

Interventional study designs (experimental or observational)

How many studies met the final inclusion criteria?

12

How many main topic areas were identified?

4

NOT one of the four topic areas

Cardiovascular disease

Which databases were searched for the review?

Six major databases, including Medline and Embase

Why were studies measuring only "intention to buy" excluded?

They did not measure a quantified health outcome.

What quality appraisal tool was used?

Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for quasi-experimental studies

Influencer marketing of unhealthy snacks had what effect on children?

No, they did not prevent increased intake

What was the effect of influencer promotion of vegetables?

No statistically significant effect

When an unhealthy snack was promoted by a sedentary or overweight influencer, children were more likely to:

Choose the healthy snack

Exposure to idealized influencer imagery in women resulted in:

Increased body dissatisfaction and negative mood

Did influencer popularity (high vs low metrics) significantly change body dissatisfaction outcomes?

No, both had similar negative effects

Fitspiration (bare-chested) influencer images in men resulted in:

Decreased body satisfaction

How did clothed male influencer images affect body satisfaction compared to bare-chested images?

Caused less dissatisfaction

In the influenza campaign study, exposure to influencer posts was associated with:

Increased self-reported vaccination uptake

In the COVID-19 study, influencer videos alone resulted in:

No significant change in handwashing

Combined exposure to influencer videos and newspaper infographics during COVID-19 was associated with:

Greater improvements in handwashing behavior

The study on idealized motherhood found that anxiety increased:

Regardless of whether posts were by influencers or everyday mothers

Most included studies had what major limitation?

Significant methodological weakness

Why was a meta-analysis not conducted?

There was heterogeneity in topics, designs, and outcomes.

Many studies relied on what type of sampling?

Convenience samples of students

According to the authors, influencer impacts on body image were generally:

Consistently negative

The overall conclusion of the review was that influencers have:

Both positive and negative impacts on health outcomes.

Parasocial relationship (PRS)

a one-sided relationship where audience members feel a bond with a media persona, despite no direct interaction.

SMI

Social Media Influencer

Vector

A push or pull with strength and direction; magnetic pull

Health Misinformation

Information that is contrary to the epistemic consensus of the scientific community regarding a phenomenon or a claim that contradicts or distorts common understandings of verifiable facts

Orthorexia

an obsession with healthy eating, with associated restrictive behaviors

Anonymity

situations in which the acting person's identity is unknown

Infodemic Control

Social media spreads misinformation faster than the truth

Gwyneth Paltrow

Owner of Goop

Naomi Lennon

President/founder of Lennon management, who was the first to the party, managing YouTubers around 2008

Sarah Penna

Currently senior manager of Creator launch at Patreon and former Chief Creator officer/co-founder of Management Media and marketing for big Fame

Dave Westing

Partner/Co-founder at underscore talent and former president/co-founder of the global multichannel Network Studio 71

Tristen Harris

technology, and this is one of the many people who discuss manipulative and sometimes nefarious ways that apps get eyeballs on screen with addictive qualities built into the system

Megainfluencers

1M+ Followers

Macroinfluencers

100k-1M followers

Microinfluencers

10K-100K followers

Nanoinfluencers

1k-10k followers

How many characters did Twitter allow

Max of 140 characters

What was the average number of minutes people worldwide spent on social media?

142

What do wellness brands often successfully include subtly in their messaging?

Body pressures to be thin

What could be a potentially positive impact of SMIs (Social Media Influencers) on public health?

Increased participation in physical exercise