Social Media Influencers Driving Unnecessary Testosterone Testing Among Healthy Young Men
A concerning new study has revealed how social media influencers within the so-called 'manosphere' are aggressively promoting testosterone tests to healthy young men, convincing them they have medical problems when screening is medically unwarranted. Researchers analysed 46 high-impact posts about low testosterone and testing made by TikTok and Instagram accounts with a combined following of more than 6.8 million followers.
The Medicalisation of Masculinity Online
The study, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, examined how masculinity and men's health are being depicted and monetised across popular social platforms. Lead author Emma Grundtvig Gram, a public health researcher at the University of Copenhagen, pointed to what she describes as the 'medicalisation of masculinity' occurring through these online channels.
"Influencers promoting routine testosterone screening often framed normal variations in energy, mood, libido or ageing as signs of pathology," Gram explained. "This means men may come to perceive themselves as inherently deficient or in need of medical intervention."
Creating False Urgency for Commercial Gain
According to the research, this approach creates a false sense of urgency for solutions, which in turn fuels lucrative markets for pharmaceuticals, supplements and medical devices, even when there is no clear clinical benefit. Gram noted that this trend contributes to reinforcing a narrow, idealised model of masculinity while marginalising non-traditional or diverse expressions of gender.
The study found that 72% of the social media posts analysed had financial interests, such as selling testosterone tests, treatments or supplements, or were sponsored by industry. Alarmingly, two-thirds of posts included direct links or promotional codes to purchase products, with conflicts of interest often not readily visible to users.
Targeting Younger Men with 'Manosphere' Messaging
Researchers discovered that posts frequently targeted younger, fit men with messaging aligned with the 'manosphere' - online communities that circulate ideas about male superiority. "Within this narrative, so-called 'alpha men' are promoted as dominant, sexually successful and physically powerful, and our study found testosterone was positioned as the key to achieving this status," Gram said.
She emphasised that this connection demonstrates how testosterone marketing is not just about health, but is embedded in wider cultural and ideological narratives about gender and power. "The manosphere is not simply an ideology, but also an industry," Gram added.
Medical Experts Warn Against Unnecessary Testing
Medical professionals have expressed serious concerns about this trend. Professor Ada Cheung, an endocrinologist in the University of Melbourne's department of medicine who was not involved in the study, noted that routine screening for low testosterone in asymptomatic men, including younger men, is not supported by Australian guidelines.
"Generally, testing is recommended only when symptoms such as delayed puberty or reduced libido are present, or in specific clinical circumstances, such as after testicular surgery or chemotherapy," Cheung explained. She pointed out that symptoms commonly attributed to low testosterone were often non-specific and overlapped with fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression and relationship difficulties.
The Dangers of Unwarranted Treatment
Professor Cheung warned about the risks of unnecessary testosterone treatment, which can include infertility, cardiovascular complications and blood thickening. "It's not hard to get testosterone on the black market or on the internet or in gyms, so many who want to try it may not seek out medical advice necessarily," she cautioned.
Professor Oliver Jones, a chemist and analytical scientist at RMIT University who was also not involved in the study, expressed concern about how easy it is for people with few or no health qualifications to spread misinformation online. "A single testosterone test, assuming it was accurate, could at best only tell you the concentration of testosterone in your blood at the time you took the test," Jones explained.
He emphasised that testosterone levels vary between individuals, at different times of the day, and can be influenced by other health conditions. "It is just a number; it requires context to make sense out of such data, which I think you can only really get from an appropriately trained medical professional," Jones concluded.
The Broader Implications for Men's Health
The research highlights a growing problem where social media platforms are becoming spaces for the commercial exploitation of men's health anxieties. Testosterone naturally declines with age but this is not inevitable for all men, and lower levels may also be linked to factors including type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome and the use of certain medications.
As Gram's study demonstrates, the intersection of social media influence, commercial interests and traditional gender narratives is creating a perfect storm that drives healthy young men toward unnecessary medical interventions. This trend not only poses individual health risks but also contributes to broader societal issues around the medicalisation of normal human experiences and the reinforcement of restrictive gender norms.
