








































This is an open access article under the terms of a license that permits non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.  
© 2023 The Authors. Société Internationale d'Urologie Journal, published by the Société Internationale d'Urologie, Canada.

Key Words Competing Interests Article Information

Medical misinformation, social media, urology, 
medical disinformation, Twitter, Nicki Minaj, 
Urology Care Foundation, WellPrept

None declared. Received on, October 20, 2022 
Accepted on, November 18, 2022 
This article has been peer reviewed.

Soc Int Urol J. 2023;4(2):125–126

DOI: 10.48083/NGTO5760

The Influence of Social Medial Influencers on Urology 
Information: Where Are All the Urologists?

Brian Robert Stork

University of Michigan, Department of Urology, Ann Arbor, United States

Patient and physician–shared decision-making is an important part of the practice of urology. To actively take part in 
shared decision-making, patients need access to medically accurate, easy-to-understand, and up-to-date information. 
The growth of social media platforms has made it possible for patients to easily receive and share medical information 
with others around the world. Social media platforms, however, are also actively being used to promulgate misleading 
medical information, false medical information, and medical disinformation. Medical misinformation can lead 
to confusion, physician distrust, avoidance of evidence-based treatments, use of unproven treatments, and patient 
harm[1].

Researchers have previously uncovered the presence of medical misinformation on a variety of different social 
media platforms. Public discourse about vaccine safety, the COVID-19 pandemic, and mask mandates, however, 
have increasingly put a spotlight on the issue. Dr Anthony Fauci, former head of the United States National Institute 
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has previously 
observed and lamented, “We’re living in many ways in a sea of exaggeration and a sea of lies”[2]. “It is terrible how 
we’ve gotten into a situation, and I think it is the phenomenon of social media”[3].

Social media differs from other types of media in a couple of important ways. First, not all social media users have 
the same influence or the same reach. For example, celebrity figures, politicians, and other influencers often have 
millions of followers. In addition, not all content on social media is treated equally. Content that is shocking, scan-
dalous, or salacious tends to be viewed and shared more frequently[4]. When medical misinformation is posted on a 
social media account with millions of followers, the impact can be astonishing.

A notable example is a tweet made by rapper and songwriter Nicki Minaj on September 13, 2021. At the time, with 
more than 22.6 million followers, Minaj tweeted, “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & 
became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called 
off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied”[5].

Nicki Minaj’s tweet, fueled by tens of thousands of retweets and likes, spread rapidly on Twitter. The inaccurate 
information contained within the tweet was quickly called to Twitter’s attention. The company elected not to place 
a warning label on the tweet, or remove the post, as the content reportedly did not violate the company’s COVID-19 
misleading information policy[6]. Screenshots of the tweet were shared on other platforms, and the scientifically base-
less information content of the tweet was reported by mainstream media. Urologists on social media tried to repudi-
ate the misinformation contained within the post[7]. The performer’s massive following, and loyal fan base, however, 
made this an almost impossible task.

As the response to Minaj’s tweet demonstrates, social media companies are struggling to safeguard their users 
from inaccurate and misleading medical information. Urologists have an opportunity to help address this issue by 
regularly sharing medically correct information on their social media accounts. Fortunately, high-quality digital 
resources, covering a wide range of urological conditions and treatments, are readily available and easy to share.  

125SIUJ.ORG SIUJ  •  Volume 4, Number 2  •  March 2023

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The Urology Care Foundation (www.urologyhealth.
org), the European Association of Urology (www.
uroweb.org), and the Canadian Urological Association 
(www.cua.org), for example, each offer a wide variety 
of medically accurate patient education materials on 
their websites[8]. These materials are guideline based, 
physician vetted, and available in a growing number of 
languages. Many institutions, hospitals, urological soci-
eties, and collaboratives have created quality resources 
of their own, and a growing number of urologists are 
producing materials of their own, posting them, and 
becoming social media influencers themselves[9].

Exploring new ways of disseminating medically accu-
rate information is another way we can help educate the 
general public and our patients. Toward this end, the 
Urology Care Foundation has created bundles of condi-
tion-specific, QR-coded educational materials that can 
be readily accessed by patients with the swipe of a smart-
phone[10]. These codes can be electronically shared with 
patients during their visit or added to their after-visit 
summary. Many patients experience anxiety between 
the time they make their appointment and the time they 

are first seen. To help address this, Dr David Canes, asso-
ciate professor at the Lahey Institute of Urology, recently 
launched WellPrept, an online tool physicians can use to 
gather, collate, and customize patient educational mate-
rials[11]. WellPrept gives patients the opportunity to 
educate themselves about specific urological conditions, 
and treatment options, before their visit. Providing 
patients with medically accurate educational materials 
before their office visit can help relieve anxiety at a time 
when they might be vulnerable to medical misinforma-
tion. This “flipped classroom” approach makes it possi-
ble for urologists and their patients to have more time for 
discussion during their office or video visit.

Patients need access to medically accurate informa-
tion to effectively participate in shared decision-mak-
ing. Medical misinformation on social media presents 
a challenge for both patients and urologists alike. Urol-
ogists can help address this problem by calling attention 
to and refuting inaccurate information when we see it, 
sharing medically correct information, and incorporat-
ing new technology into our practices.

References

1. Sylvia Chou W Y, Gaysynsk y A, Cappella JN. Where we go 
from here: health misinformation on social media. Am J 
Public Health.20 20;110 (Suppl 3):S273 – S275. doi: 10.2105/
AJPH.2020.305905. PMID: 33001722.

2. “We are living in a sea of lies.” Dr. Anthony Fauci on the devastating 
consequences of COVID-19 misinformation [Podcast]. El Segundo, 
California: Spectrum News. October 29, 2021. Available at: https://
sp e c t r umn e w s1.c o m /c a / la - w e s t /s o c al -in -17/ 2 0 21/ 10 / 2 8 /-
w e - r e li v i n g - i n - a - s e a - o f- li e s - - - d r- - a n t h o n y - f a u c i - o n - t h e -
devastatingconsequences-of-covid-19-misinformation. Accessed 
January 29, 2023.

3. McDevitt N. Spreading of misinformation makes for the ‘worst possible 
environment’ for COVID-19 pandemic, says Fauci. Montreal, Canada: 
McGillReporter. Oct 5, 2021. Available at: https://reporter.mcgill.ca/
spreading-of-misinformation-makes-for-worst-possible-environment-
for-covid-19-pandemic-says-fauci/. Accessed January 29, 2023.

4. Khullar D. Social media and medical information. Confronting new 
variant of an old problem. JAMA.2022;328(14):1393–1394. doi: 
10.1001/jama.2022.17191. PMID: 36149664.

5. @NICKIMINAJ. My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his 
friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His 
friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called 
off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable 
with ur decision, not bullied. September 13, 2021. https://twitter.
com/nickiminaj/status/1437532566945341441?lang=en. Accessed 
January 29, 2023.

6. Fichera A. Posts erroneously cite ‘clinical studies’ to back Nicki Minaj’s 
vaccine claim. AP News. September 22, 2021. Available at: https://
apnews.com/article/fact-checking-776433819360. Accessed January 
29, 2023.

7. Bateman T. Nicki Minaj tweeted that COVID vaccines cause ‘swollen 
testicles’ and Twitter did nothing about it. Lyon, France: Euronews. 
September 15, 2021. Available at: https://www.euronews.com/
next/2021/09/15/nicki-minaj-told-22-6m-people-covid-vaccines-cause-
swollen-testicles-twitter-did-nothing. Accessed January 29, 2023.

8. Stork B, Loeb S. The Urology Care Foundation – trusted online 
resources in an era of misinformation. Nat Rev Urol.2019;16(11):637–
638. doi: 10.1038/s41585-019-0215-1. PMID: 31300752.

9. Houman J, Weinberger J, Caron A, Hannemann A, Zaliznyak M, Patel 
D, et al. Association of social medica presence with online physician 
ratings and surgical volume among California urologists: observation 
study. J Med Internet Res.2019;21(8):e10195. doi: 10.2196/10195. 
PMID: 31411141.

10. QR codes. Urology Care Foundation. October 19, 2022. Available at: 
https://www.urologyhealth.org/media-center/covid-19-info-center/
telehealth/qr-codes. Accessed January 29, 2023.

11. WellPrept 2022. wellprept.com. Available at: https://wellprept.com/. 
Accessed January 29, 2023.

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