Internet Support Communities as Research

Eysenbach and Till’s research points out that the social internet, MySpace, support forums, mailing lists, and other systems all provide a way for patients to interact with communities of interest, that doctors and physicians can use to understand their patients better.

MySpace has over 76 multiple support groups for cancer, and other diseases, as well, at the local hospital here; social workers will use patients MySpace pages to help understand their patients better, or what is causing the break down in relationships. Usually people are honest enough on their social pages that indicate they are under stress or duress in relationships or family on their pages.

Employers have long known that when looking at a new employee they have to surf the social web to find out more about their employees before hire, or while they are employed. They will also use the social web to find out what people think of their companies, and use their public relations departments to help counteract negative company images.

All this research happening in the social networks has provided a wealth of material that can be of help to employers and health professionals when looking at the total person they are dealing with.

While many security companies and privacy advocate groups state that people need to be more aware of what happens on line stays and haunts the person for the rest of their lives. The idea of using these systems to find support groups, or for professionals to get closer to the patients that they treat is a positive side effect of the social internet.

The influence of the social internet to provide better services to patients, or help empathy development for doctors and professionals that will treat these people, is also a vital service provided by these social communities.

Weighing the aspects of privacy and support, most will point to the support groups when someone is under duress as a way to find people that have beat the problem. In some cases, in the example of suicide groups, it can acerbate the problem and lead to additional complications.

As with all systems, care should be used when looking at the information, as its accuracy can be in doubt or not paint a full portrayal of the person or situation. Nevertheless, it should be used to help people who have a serious problem to find like minded people who have beat their problem and help develop better coping skills for that problem.