Abstract
The dissemination of pseudo-medical information on social media poses new challenges, particularly regarding deceptive health claims (Garrett et al., 2018). Individuals presenting themselves as advocates of alternative medicine often use these platforms for financial gain or social recognition (Lavorgna & Di Ronco, 2017). While some may genuinely support the treatments they advocate, others may be misleading, making it difficult to distinguish between genuine belief and deliberate misinformation.
This paper investigates the strategies used by alternative medicine gurus on YouTube to establish credibility through multimodal communication. It focuses on two videos featuring popular alternative medicine promoters whose theories have been thoroughly scrutinised by scientists (Hall, 2017, 2019). The first video features Anthony Williams, also known as the Medical Medium, linking the Epstein-Barr virus to several undiagnosed diseases. The second video features Barbara O’Neill, a former nurse and naturopath, discussing dehydration and recommending water to treat various conditions.
Using multimodal discourse analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006), the study explores how verbal, visual, and aural modes combine to create meaning. The videos’ spoken content is transcribed, and other communicative modes are annotated for analysis.
The two health gurus establish their identities through various meaning-making resources, starting with their physical appearance, gestures and posture. Their performances take place in a staged setting and involve the use of props, such as chalk pens and a blackboard to stage a pseudo-academic environment, or anatomical models and other realia to visually support explanations. Embodied practices align with language: health gurus rely on catchphrases - ‘the medium guy’ and ‘the faithful sentinel’ - that emphasise their distinctiveness while revealing the source of their knowledge as spiritually or divinely inspired. They also adopt specific strategies of engagement. While William consistently addresses the audience directly – “you guys” – and uses hyperbole and climax to emphasise his arguments, O’Neill uses question tags to reinforce rhetorical questions and personification to support the view that the body heals itself.
This analysis extends existing research on deceptive health communication and contributes to our understanding of the multimodal strategies used by alternative medicine figures to construct persuasive online personas. By situating these findings within the framework of multimodal pragmatics, this paper highlights the role of digital platforms in shaping contemporary health discourse and the implications for digital literacy and public health.