Red flags for unreliable sources: a guide

How do you check if information is reliable? One shortcut that works well (most of the time) is to check if the source itself is reliable! This is much faster and easier than trying to learn the science behind an area you’re not already familiar with – it takes a lot of time to properly factcheck information, even for experts.

Here are some red flags to look out for with questionable sources in beauty. 

(This post was inspired by a Threads post by Jen of The Eco Well!)

Dishonest behaviour

This points towards a disregard for ethical communication, and a lack of respect for their audience and truth in general.

Examples to look out for: 

• Highly inconsistent opinions – changing your mind with new info is good, but changing too much is a sign that some opinions aren’t held honestly
• A pattern of promoting myths, then later pretending they knew all along after someone else debunks it
• Undisclosed sponsorships and conflicts of interest
• #brandpartner or #ad hidden near the bottom of the caption on social media posts (and nothing else) when promoting brands or products 
• Affiliations on LinkedIn that aren’t disclosed on other platforms
• Dodgier content on their TikTok account (generally seen as a platform where you can get away with more)

False authority

A huge source of misinformation are perceived experts who behave dishonestly. Authority bias  or the “white coat effect” means we’re more likely to believe people who seem like experts.

People take advantage of this by hiding what their qualifications actually are, or wildly inflating their credentials. For example:

• Chiropractors pretending to be medical doctors
• PhDs in irrelevant fields
• Presenting weekend courses like degrees

Over-reliance on appeal to authority is another big one. For example, people who frequently mention irrelevant qualifications in their content, instead of actual reasons:

• “I’m a cosmetic surgeon, avoid these sunscreens”
• “I’m a dermatologist, here are some product dupes”

This also makes it harder for people to understand which experts are the most relevant ones for particular topics, which makes it harder for us to factcheck other information.

Plagiarism

Common examples with beauty content creators:

• Frequently plagiarises/fails to credit people who helped or “inspired” them
• Only seems to cite scientific articles but has little relevant science background

People often plagiarise to seem more like an expert. You don’t hide your sources if you understand the topic well enough to know you’re adding value with your content.

This establishes credibility – other people believe them because of correct info they pretended was theirs. But because they don’t understand the topic, they get things wrong and spread misinformation – especially when they start to believe their own hype.

Plagiarism also demotivates good info sources, who worked hard but didn’t get the credit (a big cause of burnout). Eventually this leads to less original and accurate information overall, much like how generative AI content is starting to plagiarise other generative AI content.

Other bad information

Everyone has blind spots and makes mistakes. But if someone posts a lot of things that you already know are incorrect, their other information is likely also questionable.

Jen of The Eco Well posted a great short list: 

• claiming mineral sunscreen is the “eco” option
• saying mineral sunscreen works by reflection, “chemical” sunscreens absorb
• self describing as a “clean beauty chemist”
• using EWG as a reference
• claiming everything we stick on our skin readily absorbs to our blood
• relying on ingredient lists as the basis for a product’s safety, performance or sustainability

This really isn’t exhaustive – I have a huge back catalogue of mythbusting content!

Check their friends

It’s a red flag if someone follows a decent handful of very sus people (although if they follow a lot of very sus people, they’re probably just following bad sources to track misinformation). It’s also a red flag if someone is good buddies with other questionable sources.

Again, no one is perfectly aware on all fronts. But if someone trusts many questionable sources, that’s a sign of poor judgement.

It’s also harmful when other perceived experts (who should know better) endorse and platform bad sources. This superpowers misinfo with a double whammy of authority bias.

If they’re willing to sacrifice their own standards for clout, they probably have low standards in other areas too (shoutout to Dr Rohin Francis of Medlife Crisis for this point!).