Social Networks – A New Way of Communicating in Healthcare

Abstract

The advancement in IC technologies has provided health sys­tems with newer and better means of reaching large populations. This pa­per investigates how social networks facilitate health message-sharing on the Internet and provide users with numerous tools to create, publish or share various content formats. The literature review points out two basic motives for the use of social networks by sick people: “information sup­port” aimed at obtaining information and increasing knowledge about the disease and its therapies by sharing experiences with other users, and “social and emotional support” enabled by digital environments which encourage empathy among online peers allowing each person to access help from different social media while controlling the level of disclosure of their identity and condition. The authors of this paper conclude that a deeper understanding of shared content and user behavior in online set­tings can help communicators improve health literacy, raise community awareness and provide social support.