Event Title
Social Media and Digital Epidemiology
Location
Georgia
Start Date
16-5-2017 1:00 PM
Description
As a result of the Modern Communication Revolution the notion of healthcare and health in general has been removed from isolated offices and organizations and brought into the public sphere. Mass exchange of data and information is taking place over social media and giving rise to a new field of epidemiology. This new field, being coined digital epidemiology, is the use of trending social media tweets and posts for real-time analysis, intervention, and even predictions of health-related events. Digital epidemiology has enabled broader health communication, alternative disaster relief, and tracking of real-time disease outbreaks. As a result, two seemingly unique fields, social media and health, are converging in complex and intricate ways. Social media has been utilized as both an intentional driver to influence epidemiological response, in cases such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, but also during an unintentional driver through the spread of heightened awareness and concern as seen through the Ebola virus outbreak. Through social media, public awareness on various diseases and outbreaks has greatly increased and has seemingly generated a ripple effect of both private and public funding and general response efforts toward a “trending” disease. Social media has the potential to elicit great effects in healthcare; however, it raises cause for concern with regards to the spread of misinformation. Consequently, further analysis is necessary in order to better understand and construct meaningful practices that minimize the negative impacts of social media and utilize its numerous advantages.
Embargo Period
6-26-2017
Social Media and Digital Epidemiology
Georgia
As a result of the Modern Communication Revolution the notion of healthcare and health in general has been removed from isolated offices and organizations and brought into the public sphere. Mass exchange of data and information is taking place over social media and giving rise to a new field of epidemiology. This new field, being coined digital epidemiology, is the use of trending social media tweets and posts for real-time analysis, intervention, and even predictions of health-related events. Digital epidemiology has enabled broader health communication, alternative disaster relief, and tracking of real-time disease outbreaks. As a result, two seemingly unique fields, social media and health, are converging in complex and intricate ways. Social media has been utilized as both an intentional driver to influence epidemiological response, in cases such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, but also during an unintentional driver through the spread of heightened awareness and concern as seen through the Ebola virus outbreak. Through social media, public awareness on various diseases and outbreaks has greatly increased and has seemingly generated a ripple effect of both private and public funding and general response efforts toward a “trending” disease. Social media has the potential to elicit great effects in healthcare; however, it raises cause for concern with regards to the spread of misinformation. Consequently, further analysis is necessary in order to better understand and construct meaningful practices that minimize the negative impacts of social media and utilize its numerous advantages.