More and more people look for health information online and the Web 2.0 has made connecting with peers and accessing user-generated content easier than before. The objective of this study is to construct a view on health-related use of Web 2.0 from the perspective of the users themselves. We chose to survey the views and experiences of the users of Hoitonetti.fi, a Finnish health-focused online social networking service. An online questionnaire consisting of eight open-ended questions probing the users' motivations, reasons and purposes for engaging in Hoitonetti.fi received a total of 31 responses. Qualitative analysis of the responses revealed two sides to the respondents' participation in the service, 1) support and sharing, and 2) sourcing information, with positive atmosphere of the virtual environment and feeling of safety contributing greatly to the engagement in the service. The findings also suggest that there exists a demand on the users’ part for the medical professionals to participate in the online world as well. This study contributes to the discussion about the use of Web 2.0 in health issues by presenting a description of users’ own views and experiences of engaging in a specific health-related online social networking service.

1. An Online Social Networking
Service as a Source of
Support and Health Information –
A Study on Users’
Experiences
INTRODUCTION
RESULTS
METHODS
Information on the users’ views of using
Hoitonetti.fi was collected with an online
questionnaire consisting of eight open-ended
questions that surveyed the users’ motivations,
reasons and purposes for using the service as
well as the positive and negative aspects of the
service. A qualitative approach was chosen in
order to receive rich and diversified feedback
and open-ended questions served this purpose.
In addition, several background questions
were included in the online questionnaire.
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The site consists of registered users’ own
profile pages and separate information pages
dedicated to specific illnesses (e.g. asthma),
symptoms (e.g. dizziness), treatments (e.g.
antihistamines) or health measurement
related values (e.g. haemoglobin
concentration). The information pages are
written by medical experts and controlled by
Hoitonetti.fi maintenance whereas the users’
own profile pages are updated by the users
themselves. Users can add illnesses,
symptoms, treatments and health values to
their profiles together with personal
experiences interlinking the users’ profiles to
the information pages. Each information page
contains a section for discussion where both
registered and unregistered users can post.
The maintenance team of the service includes
medical professionals responsible for
monitoring and taking part in the discussions
and answering questions. Registered users can
also among other things join communities,
maintain a list of virtual friendships and send
virtual hugs to each other.
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Figure 1. A breakdown of the registered users
of Hoitonetti.fi by age.
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Age
Number of respondents
A total of 31 responses were received none of
which were excluded from the analysis. A clear
majority (25 out of 31) of the respondents were
women. The respondents’ age distribution is
illustrated in Figure 2. 24 out of the 31
respondents were registered users.
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Number of
registered users
The objective of this study is to construct a
view on health-related use of Web 2.0 from the
perspective of the users themselves. We chose
to survey the views, experiences and opinions
of the users of Hoitonetti.fi, a Finnish healthfocused online social networking service.
Hoitonetti.fi has approximately 2300
registered users and a greater amount of
unregistered visitors. Figure 1 illustrates the
registered users’ age distribution.
Received responses were analyzed utilizing the
procedures of qualitative content analysis: all
the web questionnaire responses were first
open coded to conceptualize the qualitative
data, the frequency of occurrence for each code
was calculated and the codes were organized
according to their frequency. Then common
themes were identified based on the most
frequent codes and by combining them into
larger categories.
Age
Figure 2. Respondents’ age distribution.
Table 1 shows the results of the coding
procedure. It lists the three codes with the
highest frequency of occurrence for each
question.
CONCLUSIONS
The results reveal two sides to the
respondents' participation in the service, 1)
support and sharing, and 2) sourcing
information (see Figure 3). A strong emphasis
in the responses was on finding peer support
and sharing experiences via the online social
network service. Peer support and sharing of
experiences hold an emotional aspect as well
as a practical aspect. The emotional aspect is
about giving and receiving encouragement and
comfort whereas the practical aspect is about
getting useful tips and advice that might be
helpful in the specific condition. Also the
importance of a supportive, open and positive
atmosphere on the website came forward in
many of the responses. Anonymity is also
relevant in this specific network: some of the
respondents stated that on Hoitonetti.fi they
can discuss matters that they wouldn’t expose
face-to-face.
Finding information was the single most often
mentioned factor in the users' responses.
Having a doctor answering questions was
considered important and a desirable feature,
but it was also an essential part of making the
Iiro Jantunen, Timo Korhonen Xirui Wang
Department of Communications and Networking,
Aalto University School of Science and Technology,
Espoo, Finland
firstname.lastname@aalto.fi
Maija Pekkola
Institute of Behavioural Sciences,
University of Helsinki, Finland
maija.pekkola@helsinki.fi
Mika Vatanen
Mediweb Oy, Helsinki, Finland
mika.vatanen@hoitonetti.fi
Question
Three most frequent codes
(frequency of occurence)
Reasons for
1. interest in the topics (2), presence of
registering to the
medical professionals (2), sharing own
service
experiences and reading about other
people’s experiences (2), usefulness of
the service (2)
2. positive atmosphere (1), finding
people to talk to (1), passing the time
(1), receiving support (1)
Reasons and
1. getting information (18)
purposes for using 2. sharing own experiences and reading
the service
about other people’s experiences (8)
3. giving and/or receiving support and
encouragement (7)
Best about the
1. giving and/or receiving support and
service
encouragement (9)
2. friends and other users (5), positive
and encouraging atmosphere (5)
3. clear and easy to use (4), hugs (4),
presence of medical professionals (4)
Bad about the
1. too little or lack of information on
service
some specific medical issues (3), too
much of virtual hugging (3), usability
problems (3)
2. lack of trust in the doctor’s answers
(2)
3. lack of information about the
maintenance staff (1)
Reasons to keep
1. friends and other users (10)
using the service
2. giving and/or receiving support and
encouragement (6), positive and
encouraging atmosphere (6),
3. getting information (5)
Most useful
1. information (11)
features of the
2. possibilities for discussion (8)
service
3. doctor’s answers (4)
Problems in using 1. usage was difficult in the beginning
the service
(7)
2. varying usability problems (3)
Requests for
1. more of medical professionals
development
participation (4)
2. varying requests for certain medical
information (3)
3. making things more clear (2)
Table 1. Results of the coding procedure
during qualitative analysis of the responses.
virtual environment feel safe. Safety and trust
are important aspects of the users’ experiences
and moderation of discussions and removal of
inappropriate messages by the professionals is
essential in this respect as well.
Figure 3. An illustration of the common
themes identified with the qualitative
analysis.
UBI-SERV Project
www.ubi-serv.org
This research was supported by the Academy of Finland under grant no 129446.