The Social Life of Health Information, by Susannah Fox, Sydney Jones. PEW Internet (June 11)
Americans certainly use the web for researching health matters (61%) and 60% of those have accessed some form of user-generated health information - blog, reviews, podcasts.
"This Pew Internet/California HealthCare Foundation survey finds that technology is not an end, but a means to accelerate the pace of discovery, widen social networks, and sharpen the questions someone might ask when they do get to talk to a health professional. Technology can help to enable the human connection in health care and the internet is turning up the information network’s volume."
Some key findings:
+ 61% of adults look online for health information.
+ 60% of e-patients (37% of adults) have accessed or created user-generated health information online.
+ 41% have read someone else's commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, website, or blog.
+ 22% of e-patient social networking site users have followed their friends' personal health experiences or updates on the site.
+ 12% of e-patient Twitterers have posted comments, queries, or information about health or medical matters.
Therefore, while there is interest in reading accounts by others, there is reluctance to write about one's own.