Users’ Attitudes towards Health-related Web 2.0 Platforms

The Health On the Net Foundation’s (HON) mission is to guide users of the Internet towards transparent and trustworthy online health information. In May of 2012, HON conducted two surveys. The first survey had the objective of identifying current trends of the use of Web 2.0 platforms for health purposes among users and to gain a better understanding of their need for guidelines. The second survey aimed to find out the needs of webmasters regarding the implementation of Web 2.0 guidelines on their websites as well as to receive feedback on these guidelines. This paper presents the main findings of the first survey. The data gathered from a total of 115 respondents, representing men and women as well as all predefined age groups, was analysed. In tota 55% of them reported to checking a Web 2.0 platform dedicated to a health topic at least once on a weekly basis. Forums were the most used (46%) Web 2.0 platform, and the main purposes of using platforms were to get health-related information (42%) and to communicate with peers about health-related issues (34%). In total, 81% agreed that a set of ethical guidelines would be “very helpful” or “helpful” in guiding users of Web 2.0 platforms towards trustworthy health information. However, 37% did not know whether the platform they use applies ethical guidelines or not. The results of this survey have shown that the users have a need to be better informed about the guidelines used on Web 2.0 platforms. The webmasters of health websites play a key role in fulfilling this need, and the HONcode certification is a tool that can be used to assist in this task.