Fake Social Media is Bad for Your Health

Guest: Jon-Patrick Allem, PhD, Research Scientist of Preventative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine at USC It’s become fairly clear that fake social media accounts and posts by so-called “social bots” had at least some role in amplifying certain political views during the 2016 presidential election. So what else in our lives might social bots be affecting? The way we spend our money? Interact with our friends? Researchers at the University of Southern California are looking at the impact of these fake social media voices on our health. They’ve identified social bots that promote e-cigarettes as a safe way to quit smoking.