The Role of Medical Influencers in Raising Health Credibility in Romania
The Role of Medical Influencers in Raising Health Credibility in Romania

Summary/Abstract: Social media influencers gained more credibility during the pandemic for significant reasons such as: the worldwide health crisis, time spent in digital world and the appearance of stronger needs related to the rhythm of being informed. The crisis has triggered fear and people have asked a lot of questions about the dangerous and unknown enemy. However, digital world became the easiest and, sometimes, the only way to communicate with someone, even for critical topics such as medical issues. The present paper aims to unveil the main factors of credibility conveyed by a well-known Romanian medical influencer, the surgeon Mihail Pautov, whose notoriety rocketed during the pandemic. In this context, the study focuses on the way he often communicated on Instagram between March 16, 2020, and March 1, 2021. The main hypothesis of this research reflects the relevance of combining the linguistic landmarks with the extralinguistic one to demonstrate the credibility of medical information. Despite the objective features of any medical expertise, this study intends to justify the relevance of emotional and subjective communication. According to the outcomes, Mihail Pautov’s credibility comes out from testimonials, demonstrations and even occasionally playing the part of the patient. The originality of this paper consists in presenting the dynamics of medical insights, which results in a successful communication within a virtual Instagram community.

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