Misinformation about Kiala Greens on TikTok

What are Kiala Greens on TikTok?
The social media app TikTok, with over 3 billion downloads and 1 billion active users worldwide, engages its users far better and longer than any other social media platform (Dean, 2022). In the United States, Generation Z uses the app more than all other generations, and they are exposed to many forms of user-created content on the platform. With such a large platform and unlimited content creators, it is not uncommon for content to be inaccurate and misleading. This is known as misinformation. One area where TikTok struggles in preventing misinformation is in the promotion and content surrounding dietary supplements, specifically Kiala Greens. Kiala Greens are dietary supplements sold by Kiala who claim that these products help with energy, bloating, and overall digestive tract issues. They additionally claim that their products help with getting clearer skin and that they are a replacement for daily vitamin intake. A lot of these claims are false or exaggerated, and there are false conclusions drawn about the effectiveness of the product.
A lot of videos on TikTok promoting Kiala Greens powders falsely repeat these exaggerated and inaccurate claims about the product, promoting them as a “get-fit-quick” solution. Most products that offer health “shortcuts” can pose problems to people’s overall health with the removal of daily vitamins and nutrients and other healthy habits. Products like these are meant to add to daily nutritional intake and not replace good eating habits and exercise. Thus, TikTok must address these false and exaggerated claims made about Kiala Greens powder on its platform, as these claims can lead to negative health outcomes for users who believe them.
Adding additional labels and improving the placement of existing labels on potentially misleading TikTok content will help inform users when they are exposed to content that may contain exaggerated claims. To verify these exaggerated claims either crowdsourced fact-checkers or fact-checking websites will be used to ensure the accuracy of the labels. This will encourage users to think critically about what they are seeing and keep an open mind to the idea that some content may not be true. If promoted Kiala Greens videos have a label that says they may contain misleading claims, users will have the opportunity to exercise additional caution if they decide to look up the products, leading to better health outcomes.

Why Viewers Purchase Kiala Greens
One way content is displayed and shared on TikTok is through the use of hashtags. Hashtags help TikTok create algorithms and link similar posts with one another. Some prevalent hashtags that are used with Kiala Greens are #kialanutrition and #guthealth. #kialanutirition links content-related videos to their profile and #guthealth helps share Kiala Greens videos to those viewers who have displayed a general interest in health. We will observe these two hashtags within the past six months by looking at the most liked top ten videos from each hashtag. Along with these two hashtags, we will look at sponsored versus unsponsored videos and how the content presented in sponsored videos promote the product using positive reviews (as seen in image 1 and 2) to be sold while those without the sponsored tag typically demote the product with negative reviews (as seen in image 3 and 4). Kiala Greens are displayed as a quick easy solution to curing gut health. There is no evidence that these products work, let alone the same for everybody. Different videos make a variety of claims about how the products are supposed to be beneficial for gut health and bloating, however, the information is rarely backed up with scientific evidence. Different reviews about the products and content videos make it unclear who or how to use the product. This often causes misperceptions about not having to exercise or replacing meals with greens powders. These forms of misinformation apply to different people who perceive information in different ways causing viewers of Kiala Greens to often be influenced to buy their products due to endorsement from influencers and naturalistic fallacy. Naturalistic Fallacy refers to how products and things that are presented as natural are immediately believed to be good for you (Lecture Feb. 21). This way of thinking and processing information has been around for a while. It is similar to the belief that being vegetarian is inherently better for you than eating meat. All of these examples share one common idea; there is little to no data to back up these claims (Tanner, 2006). This is evident in Kiala Greens when the color of their powder is green, and the packaging has a wide variety of fruits on it, leading viewers to associate the greens powders as being healthy and natural with no further information. Motivated Reasoning plays a role in aiding Naturalistic Fallacy. Motivated reasoning describes the tendency to interpret information to confirm pre-existing beliefs (Lecture Feb. 7). Those who see Kiala Greens on TikTok are typically health and fitness enthusiasts that watch content related to health. Since TikTok creates a “for you page” based on what people are interested in when Kiala Greens pop up on TikTok viewers believe that Kiala Greens are good for you based on Naturalistic Fallacy leading those who are diet-conscious to purchase Kiala Greens. One minor aspect of motivated reasoning that leads those who believe in Naturalistic Fallacy to be more likely to buy Kiala Greens is that people interpret information in a way that confirms their preexisting beliefs (Sah et al., 2021). This shows that when those who are more health conscious receive more videos about Kiala Greens they will want to believe that they are good for you and be inclined to have a more favorable view of them causing them to use Naturalistic Fallacy to prove that they are healthy before purchasing the product.
Another reason people may buy Kiala Greens is due to social proof and the behaviors of others. Social proof is the idea that people follow and mimic the actions of others to act within societal norms. Social proof is most influential when the conditions are uncertain and the surrounding people are similar (Lecture Feb. 14). Many people promoting Kiala Greens on TikTok are healthy, fit, and generally attractive young adult females. This makes the target audience young girls and women who are similar or aspire to be like the content creators who promote the product. Influencers and those that promote Kiala Greens create other videos outside of their promotional videos that are easy to relate to for people who are similar to them. This creates trust between the viewers and creator and “when we feel similar to a person, transparency additionally reminds us about the trustworthiness of that person” (Naderer 2021), furthering the idea of social proof.
Another part of social proof, besides trusting what other people do, is the desire to try and mimic their actions for social validation. When viewers see these influencers whom they aspire to be like drinking and promoting Kiala Greens they are more likely to want to drink them as well. This is similar to the idea that “media [has] a powerful influence on whether or not a person decides to take dietary supplements” (Conner et al., 2000). Ultimately these viewers that have positive impressions of the influencers see the products they use as equally positive.
Along with this endorsement of how those who promote the product can play a role in social proof, the need to conform to society also relates to the idea of social proof surrounding Kiala Greens. People conform for many reasons ranging from social pressure to being able to trust others are dependent on autopilot (Lecture Feb. 14). We discussed how endorsement often leads to social pressure and those who are exposed to the media more frequently are more likely to take Kiala Greens and other dietary supplements. However, the aspect of “benchmark”, being able to depend on autopilot by not having to think for yourself, also relates to why people who interact with certain content about Kaila Greens are more likely to buy the product. They associate the fit and healthy promoters along with naturalistic fallacy to make the quick judgment that they are healthy without needing to do their own research. This leads them to purchase due to what they see on TikTok and other social media pages.

Features on TikTok involved with Misinformation
TikTok can spread misinformation through specific features such as algorithmic curation and the use of sponsorships. These features often go unnoticed in society which causes the users of the app to believe false information spread across social media.
Algorithmic Curation
Dietary supplements like Kiala Greens Powders make exaggerated claims about the effectiveness of the product's results including decreased bloating and improved gut health. TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, meaning the “For You Page,” and its ability to promote sponsored content leads to the spread of these exaggerated claims among young women with health-centric lifestyles. The “For You Page,” also referred to as FYP, creates a feed for users that is specific to their interests. For example, Kiala Greens is a popular company that is advertised throughout TikTok by influencers that are also considered brand ambassadors for the company. If a person interested in health searches “gut health” on TikTok, hundreds of videos will be spread across their FYP. Then, the next time that the user opens TikTok, there will still be a plethora of videos about gut health. This is referred to as algorithmic curation, which is when an app such as TikTok formulates a feed for the users based on their search history or frequently watched videos. This leads to similar information continuously popping up on the user’s social media feeds, which can ultimately lead to the spread of misinformation (Thorson, K., Wells, C., p. 319).
Algorithmic curation is inevitable on social media apps today as technology advancements are making it easier for companies to filter content based on the interests of the user. Even though the users of social media apps like TikTok may be more engaged with the app when algorithmic curation is in action, this is when misinformation tends to spread. Information that the users are interested in is amplified while posts and videos containing conflicting views are silenced on the feed (Khan, B., Bhatt, I., 2018, p. 2). The lack of information displayed forces users to only hear content from one side rather than being exposed to all perspectives of a topic. For instance, TikTok users who are interested in Kiala Greens will develop a feed with products to help overall health, despite some of this information potentially being false. Algorithmic curation does not only create a feed specific for social media users but additionally shields users from different perspectives.
Similar to algorithmic curation, individual curation describes how social media allows individuals to search for information that interests them. When a person does this, algorithmic curation takes action and creates a FYP for the individual based on their search history (Thorson, K., Wells, C., 2016, p. 319). This allows the app to develop more information on the type of posts and videos the users enjoy looking at. If a person is interested in gut health products and searches for TikTok videos revolving around gut health, Kiala Greens may appear on the user’s feed. Because of algorithmic curation, Kiala Greens will continue to pop up on their feed. Ultimately, both individual and algorithmic curation leads to social media users seeing similar videos on their FYP regarding a specific topic or interest. This will become the only information that they are exposed to on social media regarding this topic, which makes the person more susceptible to believing the misinformation from the videos.
Certain social media users are more susceptible to purchasing the Kiala Greens; these people consist of health-loving fitness enthusiasts, specifically women ages 18 to 24. Kiala Greens states that the brand is a “female-focused supplement brand” indicating that its target audience is women. Many women from ages 18 to 24 are passionate about fitness and health and use TikTok to gain insight and inspiration for workouts and health products. After the health-loving fitness women engage with anything health-related, TikTok generally leads them to Kiala Greens’ products due to algorithmic curation. Then they will see sponsored posts that they will trust and interact with, leading to the algorithm showing them more videos related to Kiala Greens and similar products. Kiala Greens’ target audience typically trusts the TikTok videos due to the similarity between the viewer and creator promoting the product. This leads to users interacting with the posts more.

Sponsorships
A paid sponsorship on TikTok is a type of advertising arrangement where a brand pays a TikTok creator to promote its products or services on the platform. TikTok allows creators to disclose sponsored content by adding the “#ad” or “#sponsored” hashtags to the caption of their videos so viewers are aware that the content is paid for by a brand. TikTok also has a technical feature where creators can label their videos as a “paid partnership” with a label at the bottom of the video.
As a result of paid sponsorships, creators may be tempted to exaggerate the benefits and features of the product or services to sell more of the product. For a product like Kiala Greens, influencers on TikTok may exaggerate the results from the product, especially if they receive a commission. This is potentially harmful to their viewers because of the misinformation and misrepresentation. Additionally, some creators may be inexperienced in advertising and may unintentionally create false information. Not understanding the parameters around what to say or not to say in a sponsored video can create misinformation, even if it is unintentional. Unsponsored TikToks are based on a creator’s personal opinions and are more candid because there is no compensation for the review, leaving it unbiased. Sponsored TikToks may have the incentive to be based on a script and only say beneficial qualities about a product.
To mitigate the risk of spreading misinformation, TikTok’s guidelines attempt to decrease content that contains false or misleading claims and encourages content creators to fact-check the information they present in their videos and disclose any paid sponsorships. Regarding Kiala Greens, the TikToks that are not sponsored are the only TikToks that share negative reviews of the product. In the article “Effects of disclosing ads on Instagram: the moderating impact of similarity to the influencer”, it states that in the study they found that when the audience was made aware that a post was sponsored, their evaluations of the influencer’s credibility, authenticity, and trustworthiness decreased (Naderer, B., et al. 2021). The audience, women 18-24, are still young and have the potential to be easily influenced or deceived. This can be harmful when TikTok’s algorithm becomes extremely curated to a user’s interests and preferences and includes advertisements such as Kiala Greens on these users’ FYP.

Proposed Strategy to Correct the Misinformation
We are presenting a two-pronged approach to correcting the misinformation spread by Kiala Greens and similar dietary supplements. This approach will include the methods of clearly labeling sponsored Kiala Greens videos, including a label warning of exaggerated claims and utilizing fact-checkers to determine what information is exaggerated.
Strategy 1: Clear Sponsored Labeling and Warning of Exaggerated Claims
First, we suggest clearly labeling videos promoting this product, especially by brand ambassadors, as sponsored. Currently, videos on TikTok that include promotions have a smaller banner in the bottom left corner sometimes hidden in the caption of the video. Other times the videos just have a #sponsored or #ad in the caption of the video and may not be visible unless it is clicked on. This is why we suggest moving the banner to the upper left corner where it is easier to see. According to principles of design, the most important information that designers want users to see first will need to be placed in the upper left corner. This is where people will look first and with the most frequency (Domingo, 2023). Disclosing sponsored content benefits influencers because when viewers learn that sponsored content was not disclosed it “negatively affects the credibility of the communicator” (Brigitte Naderer, Jörg Matthes & Stephanie Schäfer, 2021).
Another label that should be added to videos promoting Kiala Greens is a banner with external links to reliable health organizations’ websites such as the FDA and other related websites. This will encourage viewers to further their research on the use of dietary supplements and their effects. Since there are new dietary supplements introduced regularly and the products are constantly changing, there is little research available on these supplements. This is why people using products such as Kiala Greens should have easy and quick access to information about it. The label should read something comparable to: "This product may include exaggerated claims about the effectiveness of dietary supplements. Learn more at https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplements". Which videos will include these labels? Any videos including dietary supplements or similar products should include a warning about exaggerated claims. Videos using a promotion code or including the words review, sponsored, ad should be labeled with the clear "sponsored" label. Instagram has already set a precedent by hyperlinking “content prone to misinformation to reputable sources, such as the FDA” (Micheline Andel Goldwire et al., 2023). This shows that the method has been tested and should be effective on TikTok as well.

Strategy 2: Utilizing Fact-Checkers
In addition to using these labels, we propose the use of either crowdsourced fact-checkers or fact checking websites known collectively as fact-checkers. Fact-checkers help to regulate the algorithm to make sure the information that the algorithm labels with the label of the exaggerated claim are in fact “exaggerated”. Research finds that “conclusive fact-checks (either true or false) tend to be shared more than others” (Li & Chang, 2022). That is why fact-checkers are important to the process of informing the public; they can intercept false information and share correct information which will hopefully get shared more. According to research done about retweet rates on Twitter, “fact-checks that confirm true statements tend to receive the most retweets” (Li & Chang, 2022). Since TikTok has similar features like sharing or reposting, this model could apply to the spread of accurate information on the platform. Fact-checking coupled with algorithmic labeling of videos making exaggerated claims about Kiala Greens will help to slow the spread of these exaggerated claims.

Shortcomings of these Strategies
One shortcoming to consider with this strategy is the accuracy of the algorithm to target misleading information. The algorithm may inaccurately label videos or posts that do not make false claims as misleading or partly false. Dr. Safiya Noble, author of the book “Algorithms of Oppression” shared that one of her posts had been flagged as “Partly False Information” (Saltz et al., 2020). She shared her frustration that this post had been flagged in error. This example exposes the limitations of algorithms showing why platforms need to be transparent about their methods for flagging videos. Informing creators about the reasoning behind the flagging helps the creators and audience provide better feedback to the platform and in turn holds them accountable. This also holds fact checkers accountable as it identifies who and why the information was flagged (Saltz et al., 2020). Because of the limitations of both the algorithm and fact checkers both strategies are essential for slowing the spread of misinformation about Kiala Greens. The two methods serve as a system of checks and balances to ensure the most accurate information spreads among viewers.

Why the Plan is Still Effective
Many proposed strategies for stopping the spread of misinformation include multifaceted approaches and address the importance of getting people from multiple sectors of society involved including social media companies, content creators, and users (Li & Chang, 2022). One aspect to consider about this misinformation is the target audience. Since this product’s target audience is health concise young women, the hope is that seeing warnings about potentially exaggerated claims would encourage research about why the product may be misleading especially if it is unnatural, unsafe, or unhealthy. As stated earlier, when women see others, especially people that are similar to them, using dietary supplements they are more likely to use them. This could also apply to women seeing fact-checkers who share similar backgrounds and interests to them sharing insights about exaggerated claims in the comments. Due to the speed and ease of sharing information with friends and family “social media may in some circumstances expose people to more accurate information” (Klein & Schweikart, 2022). The technical features of TikTok make this spread of corrected information quick and easy. Once fact-checkers have identified certain claims they will be able to spread accurate information quickly through the TikTok algorithm. The algorithm can then take that information and expose it to people who would be the most interested in it through their FYP. Those people would then share those videos with their friends and families. Due to social proof, people are more likely to believe the information coming to them from friends and family and therefore will be more accepting of the corrected information shared with them.
Our proposal uses a cyclical mode that warns viewers of potentially false information while pumping out videos with corrected information. Algorithms alert fact-checkers and fact-checkers make sure the algorithm is successfully identifying that information. This method plays into the technical features of TikTok including the algorithm and the social aspect of communities to share information with each other.

Why Should the Company Do It?
Providing a corrective strategy for information about Kiala Greens benefits multiple parties including TikTok as a company, influencers, and consumers. TikTok avoids potential legal repercussions for advertising fatality or ineffective products. Influencers should also be held responsible for the products they are promoting. Providing warnings about products like Kiala Greens also protects influencers from possible legal repercussions. With the threat of potential legal claims, influencers “will be less likely to take on brands with unscrupulous marketing strategies or baseless claims, leading to a decrease of ineffective or dangerous supplements being advertised” (Klein & Schweikart, 2022). This in turn protects influencers’ profits as they seek trustworthy and ethical brands to promote. Consumers are also protected because it dissuades influencers from selling them products with ineffective or dangerous results (Klein & Schweikart, 2022). Furthermore, it is in the influencer's best interest to be transparent with consumers because the “trustworthiness of the communicator” is a key factor for consumers when they are considering buying a certain product (Brigitte Naderer, Jörg Matthes & Stephanie Schäfer, 2021). Although there are shortcomings with any corrective strategy, supporting the mitigation of misleading claims benefits TikTok, influencers, and consumers. Influencers and TikTok are protected from legal repercussions for advertising and selling ineffective products and consumers are better informed about the products they are buying and putting into their bodies.
Conclusion
TikTok’s large user base means that its decisions about content moderation have real and immediate impacts on millions of people around the world. Videos on TikTok that promote Kiala Greens powders often make exaggerated or false claims about the product. This has real impacts on the demographic that tends to buy these supplements - young women aged 18-24 who are interested in fitness and health products. This leads them to believe that these powders are quality replacements for traditional ways to be healthy when they do not fulfill this purpose. Some of these women will purchase Kiala Greens products, and not continue other healthy habits, falsely believing that these greens powders are sufficient.
TikTok must intervene in the spread of the exaggerated claims and misinformation surrounding Kiala Greens powders. By moving the “sponsored” banner on sponsored TikTok videos to the upper left corner of the screen, it will catch users’ attention more and make them exercise more caution before engaging with the product. Additionally, placing links to health websites such as the FDA on TikTok content that contains Kiala Greens will encourage users to seek a second opinion on these products. Having fact-checkers verify that the exaggerated information is in fact exaggerated will help build trust in videos containing the “exaggerated claims” label.
These solutions are worthwhile to implement because they increase users’ skepticism and willingness to question what they see on the internet when it can have negative effects on their health. Additionally, there are benefits to TikTok, as they can avoid liability if users seek legal action after being misled about a product on TikTok. Therefore, TikTok should implement these interventions on Kiala Greens powder content on its platform.