La salute sui social vista dagli adolescenti italiani: pratiche quotidiane, bisogni informativi e processi di attribuzione della credibilità

The paper explores how Italian adolescents use social media to satisfy their health information needs. In particular, it focuses on their daily practices and the criteria they apply to assess social media content's credibility and reliability, as well as the attribution of (dis)trust towards doctors and medicine. The study is based on a thematic analysis of 51 in-depth interviews with Italian adolescents in three Italian cities. The health topics most cited on Instagram and TikTok concern mental health, eating disorders, sexual behavior and fitness. Data shows a tendency to attribute credibility on social media through perceived competence and, in particular, authenticity: this dynamic, typical of social media, legitimizes believable knowledge, complementary to that of doctors, expressed in the form of first-person accounts by influencers and creators on health topics. Keywords: teenagers; health communication; social media practices; information needs; trust; credibility.