Social Networking In Healthcare | Internet Business Guide

Explosion

Social networking has been exploited in many service sectors, but remains unheard of in healthcare. Health related social sites exist but the greater population does not know of them. The new arena of socializing in the healthcare sector will soon become a mainstream market, as the need for sharing information, patient to patient, relating to medical conditions is increasing. These social sites aim to give disease and illness suffers a voice, and brings people together on a global scale, to connect and discuss medical conditions.

Patient Written Health Content

Patient written health content online is a means to drive this niche market of socializing in the healthcare sector. As opposed to top-down information, generated from doctor-to-patient; patient-to-patient sharing information is seen to be tailored for people suffering with similar illnesses, so they would be able to better manage their illness, knowing what other people have experienced.

Health related content written by real people, suffering from medical conditions, are increasing in both supply and demand. However, this could be risky as people may take other patient?s practices into their own hands without seeking medical advice in advance. However, this is unavoidable, as there are many forums and networking pages appearing online with such content. It is solely up to the patient to understand the risks and benefits of what has worked for others and seek medical advice prior.

People suffering with an illness or disease, turn to the Internet for information and tend to search on:

1. Remedies, products, treatments and their cost
2. What has/ hasn?t worked for others
3. The reputation of certain practitioners

Real people suffering from disease and illnesses who write the content seen on blogs and forums is seen as a favourable source of information. To have this content on social networking health sites would be of great benefit to illness and disease sufferers.

How do they compete?

Social sites that are directly related to medical conditions, or have health communities embedded within their platforms, are rare to find. Social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have taken off and have become a part of our everyday life. Facebook and Twitter connect us to our friends, while LinkedIn connects us to our professional colleagues. However what site connects us to our health?

Differentiation

Focusing on a differentiation strategy and positioning the site to target specific illness sufferers could derive the competitive advantage for social networking sites. The differentiation strategy could focus on illness specific platforms for social networking, targeting specific illness sufferers with defined and easy to use social networking functionality.

Social-medine.org is an example of the online social revolution. The site has multiple dedicated patient focused social networking platforms, designed to help individuals dealing with particular illnesses, help share their thoughts, experiences, and knowledge with others who experience the same condition. It is designed to be a social, fun and a relaxed way to learn and share information. Its emphasis is on connecting people globally and has all the social networking features and functionality expected.

Source: http://www.creativeworkersunion.org/social-networking-in-healthcare.html

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