“Being able to work with brands and still be fact-based and science-based,” she says, but she admits that “part of that was necessary – because debugging took up so many hours. mine”.
Ms. Wong quit her job in 2019 to work full-time at Lab Muffin Beauty Science, but she still sometimes works up to 70 hours a week. “Science just takes longer than misinformation, because you have to do the research the right way,” she says.
Once a debugger has an audience, the work of maintaining and building the account can also lead to burnout. Like most influencers, they pressure themselves to stand out. As Dr Austin Chiang, a gastroenterologist with over half a million TikTok followers, explains, they often blame themselves if their content underperforms. “We thought, is it because my message is not good?” he say. “Is it because the video quality is not good?”
Dr.. Wallace says the most exhausting factor, though, is harassment. Commenters repeatedly insulted her, and when she posted in support of vaccinations, they accused her of being a “Big Pharma briber”. “I block the account every day,” says Dr. Wallace. She also received threatening and sexually violent messages through her university email account – a situation she said prompted university police to step in earlier this year.
For healthcare professionals, harassment can also lead to professional consequences or fear about them. “Many people’s organizations don’t want them to attract attention,” said Renée DiResta, a disinformation expert and director of technical research at the Stanford Internet Observatory, which studies internet propaganda. a lot of negative attention. Doctors are encouraged to treat patients. Scientists are encouraged to conduct research and submit their findings for peer review. To create content on TikTok? Less than.
Mr Dhahir considered quitting TikTok after users found his pharmacy address and spread rumors about his personal and professional life. He must also meet the dean of the medical faculty at the University of Sydney and explain why the university has received the complaint. Mr Dhahir said he felt supported by his university but worried that could change quickly. “One mistake, and then my job can fire me or the university can fire me,” he said. “I have to make sure I don’t mess things up.”
