CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook joins CBS Mornings to break down why more people are trusting social media over their own doctors and what that means for public health.

Washington

Recent survey data indicates that nearly half of Americans aged 18 to 34 consider their own online research to be as reliable as advice from their doctors, a rate twice as high as those aged 55 and older. This shift is attributed to the influence of social media platforms, where viral content—often driven by sensationalism or outrage—can overshadow accurate information.

Experts, including researchers and medical professionals, express concern about the spread of misinformation online. They recommend that individuals curate their social media feeds to reduce exposure to polarizing or misleading accounts and advocate for increased media literacy education, starting from a young age, to help people better identify credible sources and avoid falling for emotionally charged or biased content.

Younger Americans turning to influencers over doctors

All right, guys, so when it comes to advice on your health, who do you trust? Do you go to a doctor or do you look it up yourself sometimes? Well, how do you answer that question may depend on your age. Dr. John Lepuk has been looking at a troubling new trend. Dr. Lepuk, good morning. Good morning, Adriana. You know, when it comes to finding important answers on health, doctors are often competing with Google and social media. According to a recent survey, for people ages 18 to 34 years old, nearly half, 45%, think individual research is just as good as their doctor's advice. I'm that doctor, Adriana. That's twice as high as those 55 and older. So what's behind this trend? And I recently had the honor of moderating a panel at the Aspen Ideas Health Conference and met somebody who can help answer this question. His name is Steve Rathje, and he's an incoming assistant professor of human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. And maybe just as important, he has more than a million followers. A million followers on TikTok, that beats me by 999,000. That's peer review for you. He's famous on TikTok for his science videos. Here's a taste of his style. I'm a psychology researcher, and I've published articles, like this one, about what tends to go viral online. In this article, I found that dunking on people we dislike is a particularly good strategy for going viral on the internet, and other research has found that negative, extreme, or intense content is particularly likely to go viral. However, in another paper, I found- So welcome, Steve. Thank you. And you know, we were at this Aspen Ideas Conference where we met. I was super impressed. Thank you. Courtney Gray Haup, who's the global health chair at Edelman, provided all those amazing statistics I read. And I was blown away by how influenced people are, especially young people, by the internet and that they're sort of believing them often more than they believe moi. I know. It's a concerning trend. And I am both a scientist who studies social media and what goes viral on social media, and I am an influencer. I'm a content creator who, you know, tries to go viral on social media. And I think what's concerning about the social media environment is oftentimes it's not accurate information that goes viral, but instead it's outrage, it's sensationalistic content or conspiracy theories that go viral and attract our attention. And I think we really need to be aware of that. So how do you make accurate information more sensational and therefore viral? Well, you can see in this clip that I'm making a giant container of iced coffee while I'm talking about science. And the reason I did that is I saw all these videos on TikTok go viral where creators were making giant iced coffee. So I was like, what do I do to make science go viral? And what I know from the science of virality is sometimes outrage and negative content goes viral. But we can also lean into positive emotions like awe and surprise. And that's how I try to make science go viral. But it's really tough when you're in this incentive structure of social media and the algorithms don't always promote the most constructive content. So is there anything you can do to help your algorithm treat you better in terms of the science information that it gives you? Yeah. So I think we really need to treat our information diet like our health diet, just like we are careful about what kind of nutrition and health that we put into our body. We need to be careful about the information we put into our body. We conducted a study, my colleagues and I, where we incentivize a bunch of Twitter users to unfollow polarizing accounts on Twitter for one month. And we found that doing this reduced polarization with effects lasting up to six months after the study was completed and also made people feel better about their Twitter feeds and made them share more accurate news. So something that you can do, you can go home and you can curate your social media feed. You can unfollow or block the most toxic accounts. Or you can reduce your social media usage altogether. You just need to be mindful about the information that you're consuming. And there also has to be education. So Chris Livesay about a year ago on Sunday morning did a piece about Finland. This is our Rome correspondent? Our Rome correspondent, sorry. And in Finland, starting at age six, they start teaching the kids how to recognize fake news. That's what I was going to say is like, sometimes you don't know that what you're consuming is fake. I get a lot of like parent content about things that are proven good or bad for parenting. And I'm like forwarding it to my husband, but like, I have no idea if this is real or not. So how can people tell if something is legitimate or not? Yeah, we really need media literacy because algorithms and social media companies, companies are trying to create addicting products. They're trying to flood your feeds with outrage because their business model is to keep you hooked basically. So you have to work against that. So one trick to recognize misinformation or conspiracy theories is really think about how the content makes you feel. Is it confirming your biases? Is it using emotional language? Is it using moral outrage or polarizing language? Because what we find in our research is that it's a small number of influencers. We often call them conflict entrepreneurs because they are making their living by selling outrage online. And you really have to be careful to spot these people and pay attention to the amount of emotional language that they're using. And that's, that's the first hint that someone might be a conflict entrepreneur. Really great stuff. Dr. LaPook, Steven Arathje, maker of giant iced coffee. Thank you very much. I got to start making iced coffee when I'm talking to my patients. It was engaging. I was watching it. Yeah, it's funny. That's the trick. It is interesting that that's engaging online. But if you did it in your office, it would be like, what? The complaint box would be stuffed with, he wasn't listening, he was making coffee.

Russia's Vladimir Putin has rejected President Trump's ultimatum for Moscow to sign a ceasefire deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days. Trump has threatened to issue a 100% tariff on any country that does business with Russia if no ceasefire deal is reached.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russia rejects Trump's ultimatum for ceasefire in Ukraine

Fighting has erupted in the southern Syrian city of As Suwayda just six hours after a ceasefire was announced. Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian government forces withdrew heavy vehicles from the city, hoping to ease tensions.

As Suwayda

Fighting erupts in Syria’s As Suwayda hours after ceasefire deal

Two laptops and hard drives containing watermarked and unreleased music by Beyoncé were stolen from her choreographer’s rental car in Atlanta, according to police.

Atlanta

Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen from choreographer’s rental car

The House Committee on Education and Workforce is holding its ninth hearing in 18 months on antisemitism on college campuses. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul has more details.

Anger at House committee hearing on antisemitism in college campuses

An Air India Boeing airplane crashed in northwestern India in June, killing all people on board but one passenger. India's aviation regulator has now ordered airlines to examine fuel control switches on several Boeing models.

New Delhi

India orders airlines to inspect Boeing airplane models after crash

Controversy on Capitol Hill over the so-called Epstein Files is seemingly not going away anytime soon.

House Republicans block Democratic push to release Epstein documents

An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment. Critics inside and outside Israel have denounced the proposal.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Critics slam Israeli scheme to move Gazans to 'humanitarian city'

At least two people were killed in a New Jersey flash flooding event, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday morning as heavy rains are expected to continue battering the Northeast. CBS News' Rob Marciano has more details.

New Jersey

Two killed in New Jersey flash flooding

After over a week of negotiations in Doha, a truce in Gaza remains elusive, despite intensified efforts by mediators. The stalemate continues as both Hamas and Israel trade blame over ongoing strikes.

Doha

Gaza truce still out of reach after Doha talks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.

U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Trump to gut Education Department

Syria's government troops entered the Sweida region following deadly clashes on Tuesday, while Israel carried out strikes against them, saying it was acting to protect the Druze minority.

Syrian forces enter Sweida city following deadly clashes

Heavy rains slammed the Northeast and caused flash floods in the New York City subway system. CBS News' Rob Marciano has the latest.

New York

Flash flooding pummels NYC and slams subway lines

US President Donald Trump told Russia to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO. "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent," Trump said.

Global Tariffs

Trump gives Moscow 50-day ultimatum over Ukraine war

A Gaza-bound boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid left Sicily, over a month after Israel detained and deported people aboard a previous vessel.

Sicily

New Gaza-bound aid boat leaves Italy

The U.S. will manufacture more weapons to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion. President Trump said European nations will be footing the bill.

U.S. to send more weapons to Ukraine

Christian leaders have accused Israeli settlers of attacking sacred sites in the West Bank. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III - visiting the Christian town of Taybeh with other clerics - said settlers had started a fire near a cemetery and a 5th century church there last week.

Clerics accuse West Bank settlers of attacking Christian sites

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Beijing ahead of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He's there to broaden economic cooperation with China, which is Australia's top trade partner, while taking into account security concerns.

Beijing

Australia's Albanese pushes Aussie exports in China visit

In an Oval Office meeting, President Trump announced that the US will sell weapons to European nations, who will then send them to Ukraine. The president also threatened new trade consequences if no peace deal is reached with Ukraine within 50 days.

Trump gives Russia new deadline for Ukraine peace deal

Astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary and the U.S. are returning from the International Space Station following the historic Axiom Mission 4 trip. CBS News' consultant Bill Harwood joins with more details.

Cape Canaveral

Axiom Mission 4 crew returns from historic trip to I.S.S.

Hundreds of Palestinians on Sunday (July 13) mourned two men who were killed in overnight clashes by settlers in the West Bank. One of the deceased is 20-year-old Sayafollah Musallet, a U.S. citizen.

Mourners bury U.S. citizen killed in West Bank settler attack

Search efforts resumed for the more than 160 people still missing from the deadly July 4 floods in Central Texas after being halted Sunday morning due to renewed flood threats. CBS News' Karen Hua has the latest.

Kerrville

Heavy rains halt recovery efforts in central Texas

Following his recent criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine. Trump, for the first time since he took office in January, is also considering authorizing new funding for Ukraine.

Trump considers new funding for Ukraine

Two women were killed and two people were injured in a church shooting in Lexington, Kentucky, after the suspect initially shot a state trooper, police said. CBS News correspondent Nicole Valdes has the latest.

Lexington

Two women killed in Kentucky church shooting

The European Union said it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement, after U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up his trade war on the bloc.

Brussels

EU holds off on U.S. tariff countermeasures for now to pursue talks

One year ago, Thomas Crooks, a recent community college graduate, opened fire on then-candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A year later, there's still no answers to why Crooks did it. Scott MacFarlane reports.

Butler

Motive still a mystery a year after Trump assassination attempt

Several European leaders and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have expressed disappointment at the 30% tariffs US President Donald Trump has announced, but maintained openness to reach a negotiated solution.

Leaders of EU and Mexico slam Trump's 30% tariffs

A preliminary report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before an Air India jetliner crashed and killed 260 people last month, after the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously and starved the engines of fuel.

Ahmedabad

Air India crash report shows pilot confusion over fuel cutoff

Iran’s foreign minister says his country is ready to resume nuclear talks with the United States but will need assurances that there will be no more attacks against it. Abbas Araghchi made the comments on Saturday, during a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran.

Tehran

Iran willing to resume nuclear talks with U.S. if given assurances

Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Sunday (July 13), responding to a report that the Pentagon has pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the U.S. and China went to war over Taiwan.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia to 'support status quo' on Taiwan amid U.S. defense push

The Pentagon is urging Japan and Australia to clarify what role they would play if the U.S. and China went to war over Taiwan, the Financial Times is reporting. According to the newspaper, the reported request caught Japan and Australia 'off-guard'.

Breakdown