Janet Taylor, MD, MPHThe Ninth Population Health

and Disease Management Colloquium

March 3, 2009

BeWell- Online Health Community Program

Outline

● Definition of Social Network Sites

● Trends in Social Media

● Demographics

● Influencers

● Health Engagement

● BeWell Online Community

What are Social Network Sites?

Web based services that allow individuals to:

a) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system

b)articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection

c)view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system

(boyd, ellison, 2007, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,13(1)

What is Social Media?

● The term “social media” means a type of media that can be easily accessed, frequently changed and thrives on making connections. Some types include:

– Virtual worlds– Wikis – Blogs – Forums – Social networks

● This media denotes a change in how individuals communicate with each other.

● Credibility, honesty and user’s reputation matter in this type of media.

● 112.8 million blogs tracked on Technorati

● 66 million users on Facebook

● 72.6 million videos posted on YouTube

● 48% of business leaders spend 2-5 hours a week using social media tools to generate leads and find new clients

Ref: Source: socialmediaiq.com

Trends in Social Media

health content on social media sites...is sometimes more trusted than information developed by drug firms, government organizations, and non-profits

● Consumers are more assertive in their decision making

● There is an increase in public mistrust in the pharmaceutical industry

(TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony White Paper, Sept.2007)

Future of Social Media

The Internet is expected to continue to evolve rapidly in coming years. Here are some expected trends:

• The mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the Internet for most people in the world in 2020.

• Increased transparency but no correlation with integrity, tolerance or forgiveness.

• Enforcing intellectual property law and copyright protection. Unethical people will find ways to copy and share content without payment.

• Further blurring of the divisions between free-time and work-time, between face-to-face physical contacts and virtual (long-distance) contacts. What this will do to our basic social relations is still unknown.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Social Media Value

● Utilizing a mixture of channels to achieve a desired result by cultivating relationships, sharing information and networking activities.

● Characteristics include: – Networking - It facilitates connection between people. Not just one at

a time but exponentially connecting users to their connections.– Contributory - Individuals get involved, comment, communicate and

recruit others. Conversations tend to include sympathy, agreement, empathy, disagreement and sharing of family or group news.

– Scalable - Social networking sites and tools tend to expand to absorb all who wish to be involved.

– User-generated content is king • It is well-known that on the internet, content is king. But in social media

the user is the author. – Moderators help restrain abusive users.

Content Trumps Community

AdAge reports that consumer time online:

-42.7% - content sites

-28.6% -communicate sites

-16.1%-commerce sites

-5%-search

So what??- Community Sites reached 59.5% while content reached 92.7% of the online audience (March 11, 2008- AdAge.com)

Changing Demographics

● Social Networking among online Hispanics tripled between 2005 and 2006 (Hispanic Social Computing Takes Off, Forrester, June 22, 2007)

● The Internet represents 17% of the typical day for African-Americans, up from 10.7% a year ago (Media Day, 2008)

Dr. Google will see you now

“In fact, the biggest trend in American healthcare is DIYDs–Do-It-Yourself-Doctors. These are people who

research their own symptoms, diagnose their own illnesses, and administer their own cures. If they

have to call on doctors at all, they either treat them like ATM machines for prescriptions they already “know” they need, or they show up in their offices

with full-color descriptions of their conditions, self-diagnosed on WebMD.”

— Mark Penn, Microtrends, 2007

who is the online healthcare info seeker?

●Men and women, skew female

– Number of women online has surpassed number of men online (52% women vs. 48% men)

●40 – 65

– Highly educated• 32% Women and 36% men have college

degree or more– Internet savvy

• 60% women and 55% men report 6+ years online experience

– Typical healthcare seeker has searched for at least 5 health topics

• About 1/3 have searched for 7 health topics

• 2/3 start at a search engine●Social Networking among online Hispanics tripled between 2005 and 2006 ●The Internet represents 17% of the typical day for African-Americans, up from 10.7% a year ago ●More than online whites (35%), online African-Americans (45%), are likely to say that the Internet helps them get health care information

Source: Pew, 2005, Hispanic Social Computing Takes Off, Forrester, June 22, 2007, Media Day, 2008, African-Americans and the Internet, Pew

consumer health care decision making

● Trusted sources are changing

● More consumers look online before talking to providers

● Consumers with a health care concern cite people as a major influence

● Patient’s autonomy is making treatment decisions is necessary

● Related to health status, SES, ethnicity, and gender

consumer due diligence?

● “Three quarters of Internet users who look online for health and medical advice do not consistently check the source and data of the information that they fine

● “Much of health internet information is to varying degrees, incomplete, inaccurate, oversimplified, and/or misleading”

● “86% of health online searchers rate the health information as reliable”

Sources: Online Health Search, Pew, 2006, Information Therapy, Seidman, 7/6/2004, Harris Interactive, 7/31/2007

More Than One Million New Articles Each Day

Any type of message, communication or media that is created by individuals, distributed and archived online, and freely accessible to anyone for informational or entertainment purposes. Relevant to brands / companies. Fastest growing segment of the Web and no one is monitoring the content for accuracy.

BlogsVideo/GraphicsSocial Networks

Newsgroups Discussion Forums

Product ReviewsPersonal Web Pages

44% of U.S. online adults are content creators

More than 50 million read a blog each day.

(Pew Research)

Where People Get Health Information

Other, 6.00%

Newspaper and magazines, 6.10%

Television, 6.10%

Family and friends, 12.90%

Healthcare professional, 23.00%

Internet45.20%

Source Prospectiv Report 2007

seeking support and inspiration for their health-related challenges

Different Diseases Lead to Different Participation Levels

Source: Forrester, 2007

50+ million people read blogs everyday

rise in social networking and bloggingfor health

■ 70+ million Weblogs tracked ■ Doubling in size approximately

every 6 months■ Consistent doubling over the

last 42 months

The blogosphere is over 60 times larger than it was 3 years ago

Doubling

Source: technorati.com

Untapped Audience30 Million People & Doubling

it’s not just kids

user generated content in health

Condition Matters Source: Forrester, 2007

Sites Visited Most Often for Health Information

WebMD Health 65%

Google 37%

Yahoo 18%

Wikipedia 15%

MSN Health 13%

Yahoo! Health 13%

MayoClinic.com 13%

QualityHealth.com 12%

Other 9%

About.com Health 8%

AOL Health 8%

Healthline.com 6%

NIH.gov 5%

Everyday Health 5%

The power is with the consumer. Consumers are beginning, in a very real sense, to own our brands and participate in their creation. We need to beginto learn to let it go…”– A.G. Lafley, CEO, P&G

online patient communities Wego.com passwordprotected site

Health Info-ential

● Health Involved

● Health Informed

● Health Engaged

● Not defined by demographics

– More likely to be:1) a caregiver2) take prescription medicine3) work in a health field4) have a severe or chronic health condition(Health Engagement Barometer, Edelman,

2009)

New Rules of Health Engagement

● Provide deep content

● Be transparent

● Inform in real time

● Join the conversations, online and off

● Engage in prevention,chronic health problems and access to health care

● Take a holistic approach to health and well-being

● Address people’s multiple stakes in health, including their personal ones

● Be personal

● Engage through health-expert channels and sources

● Consider the risks of not engaging

(Health Engagement Barometer, Edelman, 2009)

Health Engagement fuels Action

● Trust

● Authenticity

● Satisfaction

Everything Matter’s to People’s Health & Well-Being:

-physical health

-mental/emotional health

-personal appearance/self-care

-financial health

-social connections with others

Health Engagement Barometer, Edelman 2009)

The LLuminari/BeWell.com Experts: America’s Dream Team on Health

Marianne J. Legato, MD, FACP Susan M. Love, MD, FACSJoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH M. Ellen Mahoney, MD, FACSMiriam E. Nelson, PhD Sonya Angelone, MS, RD, CLCMehmet C. Oz, MD, FACS Byllye Y. Avery, BA, MedHope A. Ricciotti, MD Lynne Perry-Bottinger, MD, FACCNorman E. Rosenthal, MD Elizabeth BrowningPepper Schwartz, PhD Margaret A. Caudill-Slosberg, MD, PhD, MPHNancy L. Snyderman, MD FACS Alice D. Domar, PhDJanet E. Taylor, MD, MPH Christina D. Economos, PhDSusan C. Taylor, MD Christopher Hobbs, Lac, AHGSusan L. Troyan, MD, FACS Mitzi R. Krockover, MDRobert Lash, MD Dean Ornish, MD*David B. Nash, MD Saralyn Mark, MDP. Michael Peterson, EdD Darshak Sanghavi, MDLaura A. Jana, MD Robert Abel, Jr., MDLoretta LaRoche Merville C. Marshall, Jr., MD

Inspiring Us to Live Healthier Lives

• Our Lifestyle and Health Media Business Model: • Original Content & Programming

• Live• Online• Products • Social Network

• Advertising & Sponsorship• Consulting• Landmark Studies• Royalties & Brand Licensing

Our Mission is to bring the best and the brightest health and

wellness experts together across disciplines, body, mind and

spirit, to inspire people to live healthier lives.

Introducing the First Expert-Guided Health Network

Sample Member Profile Page

Need for Expert Guidance

● More than 75% of Internet users who look online for health and medical advice do not regularly check the source and data of the information that they find.

● Much of health internet information is to varying degrees, incomplete, inaccurate, oversimplified, and/or misleading.

● Perception is key - 86% of online searchers rate the health information as reliable.

Sources: Online Health Search, Pew, 2006, Information Therapy, Seidman, 7/6/2004, Harris Interactive, 7/31/2007

We Support Healthy Conversations Online