Social Networking: Advantages and Weaknesses

     With a spirit of interest, scavenger hunting, caution and intuition, I invite you to learn more of the world of social networking (SN).  First, in summary of the published views from the previous post using web-based non-scholarly sources, the advantages of SN to the user include: unlimited topics of interests available, joining folk with common interests, diversity of users secondary to global access, reconnecting with or making new friends, free of charge, and instant update capability.  Some overall weaknesses include potential for: data theft, virus sharing, and predator access.  Specific to the Web 2.0 tool Facebook, users can foster existing relationships worldwide in a cyber-environment which is accessible by phone and the site has high security standards, custom privacy settings, technical support and accommodates RSS, photos, music and video.  A specific weakness in Facebook is the lack of customization options for site design.
     With this said, let's move on to another specific use of this tool for the goal of this blog investigation: using the SN tool Facebook as a means of health communication.  Expanding the use of SN as a viable tool within the academic networking (AN) community is practical because of the above advantages to its use and the support by scholarly research (note blog page for resources).  This week I will summarize two of the articles, Chou et al. (2009) and Hanson et al. (2008).
     69% of US adults have access to the Internet and 23% use a social networking site (Chou et al., (2009).  New opportunities abound for sharing health information addressing endless topics.  Though the younger generation is the highest user of SN, all generations are increasing usage.  Chou et al. (2009) research found "social media outlet may represent an excellent opportunity to reach traditionally underserved members of the population" with consumer health informatics.  This new media outlet gives ownership of information to the searcher, offers open access to information, is easily published, promotes collaboration and does not need to rely on media gatekeepers for publicity.  Both articles stressed two negatives: potential for errant information and continued disparities in who can access information secondary to those who do not have internet access.  A caution for promoting internet health information is "the internet is not a panacea for all health communication needs" ( Hanson et al., 2008, p. 158).  Specifically in using Facebook for AN, two way interaction leads to clarity of information.  With careful integration of SN, AN, and health education, exciting opportunities are available for reliable patient information.