Considerations About Algorithmic Literacy

In recent years, digital media is becoming increasingly popular as a source of health information. The widespread use of digital media, such as social media platforms, has become a part of everyday life, especially when it comes to COVID-19-related information. Extensive academic research compounded by general societal discord suggests that the future looks worrisome, especially when people use their mobile phones to seek health-related information. Relying on the environment of digital sources that are often processed by imperfect or biased algorithms augments the risk of being misinformed about COVID-19. This environment propelled the COVID-19 pandemic to explode with new waves of fake news and misinfodemics. The urgent challenge of health communication is to provide timely science-based health information to help people resist misinfodemics. This article explores disinformation and misinfodemics and the extent to which algorithmic literacy can contribute to eHealth literacy and manage societal discord on important medical topics.