From Bella Hadid to Chronic Disease Awareness
While March features numerous health observances, it was never officially designated as Chronic Disease Awareness Month. Yet, social media algorithms often favour engagement over accuracy, spreading such misconceptions widely
Published: 04:03 PM,Mar 26,2026 | EDITED : 08:03 PM,Mar 26,2026
Should I blame Bella Hadid, the glamorous American supermodel of Palestinian and Dutch descent who wears Prada to the Oscars and posts frequently about Gaza and health?
After all, following her (on social media obviously, as I am not a creepy grey-haired stalker with a private island) somehow convinced ‘my’ Insta algorithm that I am deeply invested in March: Chronic Disease Awareness Month.
Do not get me wrong, I appreciate Bella’s posts bringing attention to chronic disease which deserves far more public awareness and empathy. The super famous supermodel and I do not have a lot in common (I wish!), except for our Dutch heritage, standing with Gaza, and also experiencing the ups and downs of an invisible condition from a young age.
When it comes to having a chronic disease: There are good days when your body works as it was ingeniously designed, SubhanAllah, and then there are days of what I call the ‘ugly-dirty’ type of tiredness when physical movement feels like a luxury that you cannot have.
Even Bella Hadid with all her glitter is not always feeling like gold. No surprise that she supports Chronic Disease Awareness Month on social media.
But here is the kicker: Although March hosts many health observances, Chronic Disease Awareness Month was apparently never its official nickname. That is the thing about social media algorithms: they seem to prioritise engagement over accuracy.
Based on my own Insta feed, I admit that system-driven recommendations can sometimes expand cultural, culinary, intellectual and literary horizons.
But they also often mismatch interests or push incorrect information.
You know when you scroll your social looking for a baby shower gift, only for your feed to be flooded (I know it just rained but no pun intended) with ads for discounted diapers and pregnancy tests? No Mr or Mrs Machine, I was shopping for someone else’s little one, not for a baby.
Or take this ironic one: reading posts about my now favourite sci-fi series featuring aliens invading different countries all over the world, only to have my feed clogged with Donald’s and Bibi’s latest rants on Fox News. No, thank you, Algorithm, I actually watch sci-fi to escape their wars and biased media; and I would rather listen to two elderly grumpy Muppets sitting together in a theatre balcony than having to endure the propaganda of those two.
I have decided I am not going to let a machine entirely guide and generate my online interests because what then is left for human ingenuity and imagination? Unlike Instagram, I feel other sites, such as hotel booking or food delivery platforms, use machines purely to optimise transactions, not to enrich our experiences.
This is why, especially in those latter two cases, genuine recommendations from real humans still often feel more trustworthy and authentic. I wonder what Bella thinks of that.