Social Networks

Change.org

Change.org is the world's largest petition platform, empowering people everywhere to create the change they want to see. We live in an amazing time, when the opportunity to make a difference is greater than ever before. Gathering people behind a cause used to be difficult, requiring lots of time, money, and a complex infrastructure. But technology has made us more connected than ever.

Curatio

Curatio is the only privacy and regulatory compliant platform that helps life sciences companies easily connect, engage and support patients towards better adherence, self-management and quality of life.

DailyStrength

DailyStrength.org is the largest, most comprehensive health network of people sharing their advice, tratment experiences, and support.

Figure 1

View and discuss real-world medical cases with healthcare professionals from every specialty on Figure 1.

HealthUnlocked

We're inspiring millions of people to connect with others with similar health backgrounds to share their experiences.

MedHelp

The world's largest health community sharing their experiences.

Network Effect

The Internet is said to show our common humanity. Through its data, it is said to provide a kind of omniscience, and through its social networks, a deeper sense of connection. For those without access, it holds the promise of a better life. For those of us who use it a lot, its power to affect our lives is clear — but what is the nature of that effect? How does it change our behavior? The way we see others? The way we see ourselves?

Patient's Lounge

We are a site created by patients, caregivers, and loved ones sharing knowledge on personal medical experiences. We have information on patient-specific experiences—from personal tips on recovering from gall bladder surgery to a child's perspective on moving her parents into assisted living. Our goal is to be the best place on the web to exchange real-life experiences on medical conditions

PatientsLikeMe

Our goal is to enable people to share information that can improve the lives of patients diagnosed with life-changing diseases. To make this happen, we've created a platform for collecting and sharing real world, outcome-based patient data (patientslikeme.com) and are establishing data-sharing partnerships with doctors, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, research organizations, and non-profits.

Smart Patients

An online community where patients and their families learn from each other.

Cancer Support Community

Transforming the cancer experience through community and connection.

CancerCompass

No matter what type of cancer you've been diagnosed with, our popular online forum is a helpful source of community feedback and support.

CancerConnect

CancerConnect is a comprehensive online resource center and social network for cancer patients and their caregivers. Since 1996, it has been providing best in class, disease-specific patient information, covering relevant topics such as latest treatments, management of side effects, clinical trials, and support groups.

Diabetes Daily

Diabetes Daily is the web's most active, grass-roots diabetes community. Thousands of friendly people congregate every day to ask questions and get answers - usually in minutes, share real-time support in Live Chat and meet friends who actually understand what you're going through.

Positive Singles

This is a warm-hearted and exclusive community for singles and friends with STDs. Here you can get on with your life and meet new friends, partners or potential spouses, or learn about STD medical information.

RedHotMamas

The Red Hot Mamas Menopause Support Community connects patients, families, friends and caregivers for support and inspiration. This community is sponsored by Red Hot Mamas, an Inspire trusted partner.

SparkPeople

SparkPeople's healthy living tools and content will help you find the right path, but our Community will help keep you on that path. Get motivation and support while you have fun meeting people like you who are trying to get healthy.

Tudiabetes.org

Tu Diabetes is an Online Community where the members help each other out, educate ourselves and share the steps we take every day to stay healthy while living with this very serious condition.

Young Survival Coalition

The Young Survival Coalition's educational programs are designed to reach not only our core audience of young women affected by breast cancer but also members of the medical community, friends, family members, caregivers, the breast health community, healthy young women and the general public.

The Latest Crop of Instagram Influencers? Medical Students.

In between posts about the anatomy lab and long hours, med students are making extra cash endorsing products. Is it ethical?

Figure 1 Is Like Instagram, but for Doctors

If you've ever wanted to hop on an app and look at medical maladies, Silicon Valley has the cure for what ails you.

Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks

BAD NEWS SELLS. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers, based partly on data (ratings and circulation) and partly on the gut instincts of producers and editors. Wars, earthquakes, plagues, floods, fires, sick children, murdered spouses – the more suffering and mayhem, the more coverage. But now that information is being spread and monitored in different ways, researchers are discovering new rules.

How Parents Harnessed the Power of Social Media to Challenge EpiPen Prices

“I think Mylan just pushed it too far,” said Robyn O’Brien of Boulder, Colo., a well-known parent activist and writer with a strong social media following. “It hit a price point for this year for back to school where parents absolutely revolted.”

How Social Media Is Changing The Way We Approach Death

Death has long been taboo in an American culture that values youth, but an open conversation online can increase our enjoyment of life and understanding of its eventual end.

How Social Media Is Transforming Medical Care In The Developing World

When a doctor in the Dominican Republic needed to learn how to treat burn patients, she turned to Facebook.

How to Assess Internet Cures Without Falling for Dangerous Pseudoscience

A community on Facebook practically cured my horrendous illness. Here’s how you can navigate the scary waters to potentially find real solutions, too.

Instagram for doctors: How one app is solving medical mysteries

A family-medicine doctor recent saw a 13-year-old with a weird, unidentifiable rash. It wasn't itchy or painful, and the teenage boy hadn't traveled anywhere recently. So the the doctor did what any modern physician would do: he took a photo and uploaded it to an Instagram-style app called Figure 1.

Social Media’s Positive Impact on the Quality of Healthcare

Healthcare has been a bit slower on the uptake. The industry is just starting to acknowledge the undeniable impact social media can have on the quality of healthcare services. This reluctance could be due to the risks to patients and providers that must be taken into consideration. Confidentiality and privacy of patient information be must be upheld at all times. However, social media can get information out to consumers faster than any other tool. Here is a look at the history of social media and the positive impact it can have on healthcare quality.

The rise of the nursefluencer

Health care influencers who have flooded the site within the past few years say they’re fighting back against that kind of social media misinformation. Many nurses and doctors on Instagram combine the cute, aspirational lifestyle aesthetic of regular fashion and beauty influencers with actual medical tips from a vetted professional. There are now so many medical professionals on Instagram that at least one hospital has created an entire position to govern it.

The Social Media Cure

How people with chronic illnesses use memes, selfies, and emojis to soothe their suffering.

This is the place

Instagram, Wattpad and YouNow aren’t just apps — for many teens, they’re more than that.

Millennials And Healthy Living: It's About Online Content, Not Doctors' Visits

Millennials are often called the “C” generation, “C” standing for “connected.” They have grown up with devices in their hands and have come to see that they can find everything they want or need online. And this includes health.

A Guide to Managing Media for Teens and Tweens

Nowadays, it’s all but impossible for constantly-connected teens and tweens to avoid screens, media, and digital devices. At seemingly every turn, they’re inundated with notifications from their friends, new content to read or listen to, and new apps and games to play with. Between smartphones, laptops and tablets, and other digital devices, media is everywhere and all too easy for children to access whenever they please.

Are social networking sites good for our society?

Proponents of social networking sites say that the online communities promote increased interaction with friends and family; offer teachers, librarians, and students valuable access to educational support and materials; facilitate social and political change; and disseminate useful information rapidly...

Can Social Media Have A Positive Impact On Global Healthcare?

There really isn’t an area where social media hasn’t had an impact. People use social media to share opinions, seek information, and share stories about their experiences. Healthcare hasn’t been excluded from this in any way. In fact, 60% of doctors see social media as an avenue for delivering better healthcare to patients. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t concerns. For instance, the ways that people choose to use Facebook can lead to negative outcomes. Still, the impact social media is having and stands to have on global healthcare is a topic worth exploring as there are significant benefits and drawbacks it can cast on both patients and medical practitioners.

How Facebook Is Transforming Science and Public Health

Physicians, who you might think would love to use Facebook as a natural hub to communicate with their patients, have mostly shied away from it and other social media platforms to interact with patients because of concerns over professionalism and legal liabilities due to patient confidentiality laws. But there are signs that the healthcare crowd is warming up to Facebook, in particular research scientists are increasingly using Facebook as a tool.