By Kate Dickman

Wellness has always been a business. The ability of the wellness industry to both create and adapt fads is nothing new. What is new, however, is the power that influencers have over their followers, and the speed at which they can spread their messages. With the development of social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, influencers are just a click away from being able to communicate with hundreds of thousands of people. In many cases, these messages are formulated specifically to draw in followers. The accounts of wellness influencers may not start out as predatory, but the accounts eventually shift from promoting wellness to promoting conspiracy.

I began to examine who exactly was putting out this information by going to Instagram. At first, I dismissed it as a few people with few followers. As I continued my research, however, I was astounded at the results. The people at the forefront of anti-vaccine sentiments were wellness “influencers,” people who promoted alternative forms of medicine. Much to my surprise, they had amassed huge quantities of followers. I began to dive into the wellness industry, who controls it, what it says, and how it relates to conservative politics. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the self-help industry and its promoters began to distort the original message that people should focus on personal wellbeing and development. Instead of promoting notions of self-care, this industry began to tout anti-establishment, anti-science messages. I was still curious, at this point, about who was dispersing this information. What I found stunned me. According to The Guardian, the

How, I wondered, could only 12 individuals be responsible for the kind of chaos caused by anti-vaccine sentiments? As I dove deeper into their personal social media accounts, the answer became clear. 

I began my search with Dr. Kelly Brogan’s Instagram, whose bio flaunts her title of M.D., even though she is no longer a board-certified doctor. On her page, she promotes her “specialized program” which allows followers to “leave the matrix” that many of us would call mainstream society. Brogan promotes her practices as a superior alternative to Western medicine, stating that “We believe in bodily sovereignty, health freedom, radical healing, and feel that this can only be fully experienced beyond the framework of pharmaceutically driven medicine and associated with mainstream media indoctrination.” Although the messages themselves seem over-the-top and outlandish, the account itself was aesthetically pleasing and well-organized. In other words, the account did not scream “conspiracy theorist” – instead, it gave the impression that Brogan was qualified to dispense medical information. 

In contrast to Brogan’s account, Krystal Tini’s Instagram account is overtly anti-government and anti-vaccine. While both influencers disperse similar information, they do so in completely opposing ways. Brogan’s account is organized and professional, but Tini’s looks like it was put together by a legitimate conspiracy theorist. One of her top posts read, “you can either trust the government or you can understand history, but you can’t do both.” Another read, “Rely on immune system created by god.” In other words, Tini’s account is anti-government, anti-vaccine, and pro-conspiracy theory. 

These differences tell a key story of the connection between social media and misinformation. Combined, these two women reach a huge number of people. Tini’s account attracts the usuals (people who already hate the government), while Brogan’s might attract newcomers, people who came for wellness advice and became inundated with anti-vaccine sentiments disguised as wellness suggestions. According to the Guardian, one social media user said:

“The conversation and tone of their posts shifted. At first it was all about self-care and being part of a community that is caring for each other. But then they started to speak more about how there should be a choice when it came to vaccines. They were saying things like: ‘My body, my choice'”

In other words, innocent people can be drawn into conspiracy theories simply by looking for health advice and information. Many people are fooled by the wellness, holistic approach that many of these influencers take.

The allure of these accounts, which exist on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and nearly every other social media platform, entices regular people.

It seems that people within these communities conflate spirituality with health. Doing yoga, for example, will not prevent a person from getting COVID. Only a mask and a vaccine will do that.