Health Support Networks on Instagram for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Influencers and Their Strategies to Build Trust

Individuals with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) turn to Instagram influencers as an alternative or complementary PCOS support source to their physicians. However, the ambiguous qualifications of influencers, and contradicting claims regarding how to manage PCOS, make it difficult to identify credible sources. Using a directed qualitative content analysis, we examined the range of strategies that 10 Instagram PCOS influencers used to signal trust. We found that influencers utilized a range of pseudo-trust strategies. Another key contribution of the study is a description of how PCOS influencers reference sources as a way to signal their status and authority. We also found that Instagram PCOS influencers discuss what it means to be healthy with PCOS, and we describe how they contribute to a wider cultural participation in healthism. The findings build upon the source credibility literature to identify novel cues of trust and emotionality used by influencers as social media platforms evolve, and further, reveal the underlying healthism-centric discourse of PCOS influencers.