Inquiry Process: Introduction!
Hi everyone,
My partner, Parmis and I have begun the process of our inquiry project. Our guiding question is: How does online presence play a role in self-diagnosing?
We chose this topic because, as psychology majors, we frequently encounter discussions about mental health online and have noticed how often people turn to the internet to interpret their own symptoms before consulting professionals. We believe this is an important issue to investigate because digital spaces increasingly shape how individuals understand health information and make decisions about their well-being.
To explore this question, we will conduct research using peer-reviewed psychological literature from PubMed, Google Scholar, and the UVic library database. We plan to examine both psychological research on self-diagnosis and studies about how digital platforms influence beliefs and behaviour.
Our primary focus will be on TikTok and Google search results, since these platforms are commonly used to look up symptoms and mental health explanations. We are especially interested in how short-form content and algorithms might influence individuals in diagnosing themselves.
This inquiry connects to the BC Post-Secondary Digital Literacy Framework under digital well-being, which emphasizes:
- making informed health-related decisions,
- intentionally sharing and consuming digital content,
- recognizing that online content is curated and may not reflect reality,
- and maintaining a healthy balance with technology.
As a first step, I will begin researching how platform algorithms organize and present health information, since this likely shapes what users see and therefore what they believe about their symptoms. I’m excited to see where this project leads and would love to hear if anyone has noticed similar experiences online!