Should more research be done on the ‘new masculinity’?

Balance explores the rise in testosterone research and the reliability of health information being shared with men on social media.

For a long time, conversations about men's health tended to focus on exercise, diet and cardiovascular health, perhaps a check-up when something felt wrong. Now there is a much bigger conversation happening around the male body. Testosterone levels, body composition, protein intake, creatine, sleep quality, fertility, recovery and biological age have all become part of a growing culture of health measurement. The body is not simply something to look after; increasingly, it is something people can understand, track and optimise optimise optimise.

Testosterone is particularly interesting because of how much meaning has accumulated around a relatively simple biological fact. The hormone plays an important role in male sexual development and reproductive function, and testosterone levels naturally change throughout life. But online, the conversation can extend far beyond its established medical uses, with testosterone testing and ‘boosting’ increasingly appearing alongside discussions about energy, confidence, muscle, libido and performance. A 2026 study led by researchers including Emma Grundtvig Gram and Tessa Copp analysed 46 high-reach Instagram and TikTok posts about testosterone. They found that “low T” was often presented as a crisis of masculinity, with testing and treatment framed as routes towards becoming stronger. The researchers also found that many posts lacked scientific evidence and used insecurity around sex, relationships. and appearance to promote products or services.

A previous analysis of TikTok and Instagram content covering testosterone, erectile dysfunction, male infertility, semen retention, and other men's health topics estimated more than 2.3 billion TikTok impressions across the subjects studied. Doctors created only 10.3% of the TikTok content and 12.9% of Instagram posts, while the overall accuracy of the content was rated relatively poorly. Medical professionals' posts were considerably more accurate than those from non-medical creators.

There is something genuinely useful about being able to understand your body in more detail, but the cultural shift lies in how readily that information is presented as something that needs to be improved.

That has created a particularly interesting space for researchers such as Kyle Ganson and Jason Nagata, whose work looks at male body image, social media, and muscle dysmorphia. Their 2025 study analysed boys and men aged 15–35 in Canada and the US and found that more frequent exposure to social-media content featuring muscular bodies, muscle-building supplements, and muscle-building drugs was associated with greater symptoms of muscle dysmorphia.

There is also a new language developing around all of this. “Low T”, “looksmaxxing”, “testosterone boosting”, “natural optimisation” and “high-value man” can sit surprisingly close together online, even though they come from very different places. A conversation that begins with a legitimate question about energy or sexual health can quickly become a conversation about physique, confidence, attractiveness, and identity. Research presented by the Society for Endocrinology in 2026 found that testosterone and cortisol content on social media was frequently simplified into explanations for problems ranging from fatigue to body fat, often alongside marketing for supplements and other products.

One reason this online ecosystem has grown is that there is a genuine appetite for conversations that men may not always feel comfortable having in traditional healthcare settings. Traditional ideas about masculinity have not necessarily disappeared; they are being expressed through a new vocabulary.

The work of researchers such as Ray Moynihan, Tessa Copp and Emma Grundtvig Gram sits at the intersection of medicine, marketing, and the way health information reaches the public. So when does legitimate healthcare information become a commercial story about who we are supposed to become?

Perhaps the ‘new masculinity’ is about giving more opportunity to men to understand their health than previous generations did. The challenge is making sure that information gives people more agency over their bodies, rather than creating another set of numbers they feel they have to live up to.