Health conversations on the social web: laboratory or echo chamber

Breakout 6 The health conversation on the social web: laboratory or echo chamber? Justin Kerr-Stevens Andrew Spong Graham Steel Erik van der Zijden

Introductions ● Why we are here Justin, Andrew, Graham, and Eric speak for 1 minute each explaining their interest in and experience of the health conversation on the social web ● What health conversations? Which social web? #hcsmeu #hcsmeux #hcsm #nhssm #socpharm #rnchat plus... Twitter, patient communities, healthcare professional communities plus..

Background ● These discussions have been effective in connecting early adopters of social technologies who have an interest in the discussing health on the social web ● Is their utility plateauing? Are they talking to themselves, or making a substantive impact on the future of health communications and patient outcomes? What else could or should they be doing? ● Let's consider some points for and against...

A laboratory with An echo chamber with plenty of benef ts i nothing to contribute These are still early days. The health Contributors obsess over technologies conversation will obey Shirky’s law: only rather than needs and benef ts. Many of i when a technology becomes boring does the fundamental ‘why, what, how, who’ it become useful. questions remain unanswered. New people join the health conversation Not enough new voices have joined these every day. Evolution isn’t over. These conversations since they began. They aren’t the only ideas we’re ever going to resemble clubs more than open forums have to work with. These conversations still have the These communities are trapped in potential to bring together health Zuckerman’s bubble. They think they’re constituencies that have little informal being inclusive because their communities contact with each other in other are the only people that they can see and circumstances. Lots of opportunities to hear. In fact, they fail to connect with cross-pollinate. almost everyone. The sort of serendipitous encounters, both Too much chat, not enough action. of people and info, that you find on the Everyone is waiting for someone else to health conversation on the social web is do something that they can grab on to the worth an hour of anyone’s time every coattails of. week.

A laboratory with An echo chamber with plenty of benef ts i nothing to contribute There are a small number of active To date, insuff cient direct involvement i websites on the www such as with researchers in the f eld of interest. i PatientsLikeMe. Fluid communication Patients are more than willing share their between e-patients. own data via the www. Collective wisdom can be a powerful The scope of the conversations are too thing. The human race has proven to be narrow. Without a broader perspective, very powerful when organized. these conversations will always attract those who wish to obsess over minutiae and achieve nothing. Diseases are not circumscribed by The participants do not have suff cient i borders, nor should our thinking be. power to actually change things within their respective organizations. Decision makers higher up the food chain are not participating, don't 'get' emerging channels, and conclude the health conversation on the social web is 'just a bunch of geeks talking to each other'. More of your views? More of your views?

Health conversations on the social web: laboratory or echo chamber

by Andrew Spong on Sep 03, 2010

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Health conversations on the social web: laboratory or echo chamber — Presentation Transcript

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