Abstract
The abundance of online medical misinformation pertaining to the
treatment of menopause symptoms can create significant confusion for
afflicted individuals seeking answers while browsing the Internet. This
study investigates oral online menopause discourse employed by ‘health
influencers’ and medical professionals in terms of its pragmatic impact.
Two distinct sets of YouTube videos were selected for analysis. The
first corpus consists of 20 videos (89,046 words) uploaded between
2010-2022 by individuals promoting natural hormone balancing and
compounded Bioidentical Hormone Therapy (cBHT) as a treatment for
menopause symptoms. The second dataset includes 16 videos (66,333 words)
and was added between 2013-2022 by institutions and medical
professionals advocating for Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT). To
investigate the effects of the discourse, the study focuses on the
speakers’ use of subjective mental verb projections and reporting verbs.
As engagement resources, these constructions allow for an exploration of
the speakers’ dialogistic positioning and commitment to the validity of
the shared information. Based on part-of-speech (POS) categories and the
Appraisal framework, a contrastive appraisal analysis was conducted on
both corpora, examining the system of Engagement and quantifying the
appraisals. Further analysis focused on the lexicogrammatical
realisations of subjective epistemic and evidential formulations beyond
the sentence level, including the speakers’ deployment of attitude and
graduation resources. The comprehensive computer-assisted appraisal
analysis shows how the interplay of deliberate objectification and
affectivity may render online media content more persuasive and increase
the likelihood of false information. It shows that health influencers
employ a higher number of non-congruent mental verb projections in
pronounce moves, in an attempt to align the audience with their own
stance, even though the constructions are described as entertain
resources in Appraisal theory. In entertain moves, the YouTube creators
primarily select metaphorical formulations to influence the viewers’
perception of the shared information, promoting cBHT. The health
influencers predominantly attributed the shared information to human
sources and hearsay evidence through the amplified use of lower-value
reporting verbs and lexical graduation. In contrast, the medical
professionals mainly opted for mental verb projections in pronounce
moves to share specific views of reality grounded in scientific
consensus. As members of the scholarly community, they attributed the
communicated knowledge to research evidence, employing reporting verbs
that indicated a high commitment to factual information and endorsing
sources. The study offers valuable insight into the rhetorical effects
of pseudo-medical discourse related to the online debate on appropriate
menopause treatment. As a critical discourse analysis, it underscores
the need for awareness of the increasing prevalence of medical
disinformation in the digital sphere, especially in the light of
repeated menopause medication shortages.
All tables and figures are my own.