Before Sharing a Health Post: Date, Source, Claim, and Audience

Should You Share That Health Post? Pause and Run Four Checks First

By PiedmontPrimaryCare.com Wellness Team

Last updated: September 24, 2026

Before you share a health post, check four things: its date, its source, its claim, and its audience. The U.S. National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus says a social media post may come from someone you know, but that does not guarantee the information is good. It also says that if you are not sure a post is trustworthy, do not share it.

This guide turns that advice into a short process and a checklist you can print or save. It will not tell you whether a specific post is true. It will help you slow down long enough to ask better questions.

Emergency first: If you or someone near you may be having a medical emergency, call your local emergency number right away. Do not stop to fact-check a post.

The Process Map: Four Checks in Order

1. Date: When was this written, reviewed, or updated?
2. Source: Who is behind it, who pays for it, and where does its information come from?
3. Claim: What exactly does it say, and is it balanced and backed by research?
4. Audience: Who might read it, and what could they do because of it?

Take the checks in this order because each one can end the process early. If you cannot find the source, you do not need to read every claim closely before deciding to hold off.

Why These Checks Matter

MedlinePlus says health information is easy to find, but finding reliable health information takes effort. Some of what appears in the news, online, and on social media is up to date and trustworthy, and some is not. It names two key steps: ask questions before you trust what you read or hear, and talk with your health care provider before you rely on it. Your provider can tell you whether information is good for you.

Check 1: What Is the Date?

MedlinePlus says trustworthy content pages should show when the information was written, reviewed, or updated. Health advice can go out of date, so a missing or very old date is a reason to pause.

• Look for a written, reviewed, or updated date on the post or the page it links to.
• If you cannot find a date, treat that as a gap, not as proof the post is current.

For a closer look at dates, authors, and reviewers on a medical page, see Who Wrote This Medical Page? Author, Reviewer, and Update Date.

Check 2: Who Is Behind It, and Who Pays?

MedlinePlus suggests asking who runs the site, what its purpose is, and who pays for it. It says you can usually find most of the answers on an “About Us” page. If you cannot find out who runs a website, the site may not be trustworthy.

Who runs it?

MedlinePlus says you will generally find good health information on sites run by federal government agencies, medical schools, and large professional or nonprofit organizations. It also says trustworthy sites give you a way to contact the owners.

What is the purpose?

Ask whether the goal is to inform the public, sell products or services, or promote the opinions of one person or group. MedlinePlus says a trustworthy website has one goal: to give you good information.

Who pays?

Ads should be clearly marked as ads, and MedlinePlus warns about ads designed to look like neutral health information. If a business pays for a site, its health information may favor that business and its products.

We hold ourselves to the same test. PiedmontPrimaryCare.com is an independent wellness information website. It is not a medical practice, and it says on its pages that it is not affiliated with any medical practice using the name “Piedmont Primary Care.” No doctor or other clinician wrote or reviewed this article. The site also states that some links elsewhere on it earn a commission, and this article contains none. You can read how we describe this on our About page and our How We Work page. Look for the same kind of disclosure on any source you check.

Where does the information come from?

MedlinePlus says content pages should link to or list the sources of their information. It also suggests looking for signs of a review process, such as an editorial board of health experts, a content review process, a selection policy, or information about the writers' qualifications. A post with no sources at all leaves you nothing to check.

If a post or page lists no sources, see A Medical Page Has No Sources: How to Find the Original Guidance. If a site simply looks polished, see A Health Website Looks Professional: Five Credibility Checks.

Check 3: What Is the Claim?

Write the claim in one plain sentence. Then look at how it is made.

MedlinePlus says good health information does not promote one treatment over another. It gives balanced facts based on research. It says to beware of dramatic writing, promises of cures, and claims that sound too good to be true, because these can be signs of a health fraud scam.

If the post is about a news story or study

MedlinePlus says news stories about medical research may leave out facts you need. Its questions are:

• Did the research involve people or animals?
• If people, how many were in the study, and who were they?
• How long was the study?
• What type of study was it?
• Who paid for the research?

If the post leans on numbers, such as percentages of risk, see Health Statistics in the News: Absolute Risk Versus Relative Risk.

Look for a second source

MedlinePlus says that when a website seems trustworthy, you should not stop there. Check whether other reliable sites have similar health information.

Check 4: Who Is the Audience?

This step is our own addition to the sources above. It builds on MedlinePlus's point that information can be good in general and still not fit a particular person.

Before you share, picture the people who might see your post. They may have different ages, health situations, and medicines. A post that seems harmless to you could be read by someone who treats it as advice. Ask yourself:

• Who might read this and think it applies to them?
• Could someone act on it, such as by buying something, skipping care, or changing what they take, without talking to a provider?
• Could I share the reliable source itself, or a note that says “ask your provider,” instead of the post?

If you are unsure, MedlinePlus's guidance is simple: do not share.

Printable Checklist: Before I Share This Health Post

Date

• ☐ I found a date for when it was written, reviewed, or updated.
• ☐ The date is recent enough that I am comfortable with it.

Source

• ☐ I know who runs the site or account.
• ☐ I can tell whether it is trying to inform, sell, or promote an opinion.
• ☐ I know who pays for it, or I could not find out (and I counted that as a warning sign).
• ☐ Any ads are clearly marked and do not look like neutral health information.
• ☐ The post links to or names its sources.

Claim

• ☐ I can state the claim in one sentence.
• ☐ It is not written as a promise of a cure or as “too good to be true.”
• ☐ It is balanced and does not push one treatment over another.
• ☐ If it cites a study, I know whether it involved people or animals, how many, how long, what type, and who paid.
• ☐ At least one other reliable source says something similar.

Audience

• ☐ I thought about who might see this and act on it.
• ☐ I considered whether it could push anyone toward a health decision without talking to a provider.

Decision

• ☐ The checks above turned up no warning signs, so I will share and add a note to talk with a health care provider.
• ☐ I am not sure, so I will not share it.

If the Post Affects You: Questions to Bring to Your Provider

MedlinePlus says to discuss health information you find with your provider before relying on it. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) publishes a list of “10 Questions You Should Know” for patients and families. Several of them can help you start a conversation about something you read:

• Are there any side effects?
• Will this medicine interact with medicines that I'm already taking?
• Why do I need this treatment?
• Are there any alternatives?
• What are the possible complications?

AHRQ's list is written for healthcare visits, not for judging posts. Its other questions cover tests, results, drug names, choosing a hospital, and how often a provider has done a procedure. Bring the post, or a note about what it said, so your provider can respond to the actual claim. For help organizing what you found, see Preparing Questions From Online Research for a Primary Care Visit.

What This Guide Cannot Do

• It cannot tell you whether a specific post is true or false.
• Passing all four checks does not prove information is safe or right for you.
• The audience step is this guide's own framework, not a step from the named sources.
• Only a qualified health care provider who knows your history can say whether something applies to you.

Sources Used

• Evaluating Health Information, MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine (page last updated February 26, 2024).
• The 10 Questions You Should Know, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (page last reviewed November 2020).

Educational Disclaimer

This article is general educational information, not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. PiedmontPrimaryCare.com is an independent wellness information website. It is not a medical practice and does not provide healthcare services. The domain was previously used by a healthcare provider that is no longer associated with this website. Talk with a qualified health care provider before making decisions about your health, and do not start, stop, or change any medicine based on what you read here or in a social media post. In an emergency, call your local emergency services.