Table Info

Table 2.

Social media resources for promoting and educating on health

Serial no.	Tools	Definition/use
1	Content syndication/RSS feeds	Users may subscribe to and receive online articles, videos, and other content feeds via RSS feeds.
2	e-Games	Interactive games can be executed on a video game console, the Internet, or a mobile device.
3	Message boards	Platforms that allow users to publish comments and queries and then receive answers from other people.
4	Microblogs	Restricted-length blogs.
5	Short message service (SMS)/texting	Anyone with a mobile phone may send and receive SMS, sometimes known as texting.
6	Social networking sites: general	A tool that allows users to add friends, send messages, and share material in online groups.
7	Social networking sites: health specific	Users can exchange information and personal experiences with other people online on websites that are focused on their well-being and issues.
8	Video file sharing	To share and comment on videos, users make and submit them.
9	Weblogs (blogs)	Online diaries where one can post about any subject of curiosity, get feedback, and share content across several platforms.
10	widgets	Web apps called widgets show highlighted material from one website on a user’s homepage or a different website.
11	wikis	Enabling a community of individuals to publish and generate material.

Declarations

Author contributions

MSH: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. DT: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing.

Conflicts of interest

Author D.T. is Editorial Board member of Exploration of Digital Health Technologies, but he had no involvement in the peer-review of this article and had no access to information regarding its peer-review. The other author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Funding

Not applicable.

Copyright

References

Goyal A. Developing women: why technology can help. Inf Technol Dev. 2011;17:112–32. [DOI]

Li X, He X, Zhang Y. The impact of social media on the business performance of small firms in China. Inf Technol Dev. 2020;26:346–68. [DOI]

Pick JB, Gollakota K, Singh M. Technology for Development: Understanding Influences on use of Rural Telecenters in India. Inf Technol Dev. 2014;20:296–323. [DOI]

Zaremohzzabieh Z, Samah BA, Muhammad M, Omar SZ, Bolong J, Hassan SB, et al. Information and Communications Technology Acceptance by Youth Entrepreneurs in Rural Malaysian Communities: The Mediating Effects of Attitude and Entrepreneurial Intention. Inf Technol Dev. 2016;22:606–29. [DOI]

Maredia MK, Reyes B, Ba MN, Dabire CL, Pittendrigh B, Bello-Bravo J. Can mobile phone-based animated videos induce learning and technology adoption among low-literate farmers? A field experiment in Burkina Faso. Inf Technol Dev. 2018;24:429–60. [DOI]

Tsimonis G, Dimitriadis S. Brand strategies in social media. Mark Intell Plan. 2014;32:328–44. [DOI]

Smits M, Mogos S. The Impact Of Social Media On Business Performance. ECIS. 2013;125.

Househ M, Borycki E, Kushniruk A. Empowering patients through social media: the benefits and challenges. Health Informatics J. 2014;20:50–8. [DOI] [PubMed]

Eckler P, Worsowicz G, Rayburn JW. Social media and health care: an overview. PM R. 2010;2:1046–50. [DOI] [PubMed]

10.

Sweetser KD, Lariscy RW. Candidates Make Good Friends: An Analysis of Candidates’ Uses of Facebook. Int J Strateg Commun. 2008;2:175–98. [DOI]

11.

Luo J, Wu M, Gopukumar D, Zhao Y. Big Data Application in Biomedical Research and Health Care: A Literature Review. Biomed Inform Insights. 2016;8:1–10. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

12.

Xu R, Wunsch DC. Clustering algorithms in biomedical research: a review. IEEE Rev Biomed Eng. 2010;3:120–54. [DOI] [PubMed]

13.

Macleod MR, Michie S, Roberts I, Dirnagl U, Chalmers I, Ioannidis JP, et al. Biomedical research: increasing value, reducing waste. Lancet. 2014;383:101–4. [DOI] [PubMed]

14.

Zahin N, Anwar R, Tewari D, Kabir MT, Sajid A, Mathew B, et al. Nanoparticles and its biomedical applications in health and diseases: special focus on drug delivery. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020;27:19151–68. [DOI] [PubMed]

15.

Finn S, Herne M, Castille D. The Value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for the Environmental Health Sciences and Biomedical Research. Environ Health Perspect. 2017;125:085006. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

16.

Zaidieh AJ. The Use of Social Networking in Education: Challenges and Opportunities. WCSIT. 2012;2:18–21.

17.

Weaver AC, Morrison BB. Social Networking. Computer. 2008;41:97–100. [DOI]

18.

Moorhead SA, Hazlett DE, Harrison L, Carroll JK, Irwin A, Hoving C. A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication. J Med Internet Res. 2013;15:e85. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

19.

Antheunis ML, Tates K, Nieboer TE. Patients’ and health professionals’ use of social media in health care: motives, barriers and expectations. Patient Educ Couns. 2013;92:426–31. [DOI] [PubMed]

20.

Enghoff O, Aldridge J. The value of unsolicited online data in drug policy research. Int J Drug Policy. 2019;73:210–8. [DOI] [PubMed]

21.

Ventola CL. Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. P T. 2014;39:491–520. [PubMed] [PMC]

22.

Househ M. The use of social media in healthcare: organizational, clinical, and patient perspectives. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2013;183:244–8. [PubMed]

23.

Grindrod K, Forgione A, Tsuyuki RT, Gavura S, Giustini D. Pharmacy 2.0: a scoping review of social media use in pharmacy. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2014;10:256–70. [DOI] [PubMed]

24.

MacMillan C. Social media revolution and blurring of professional boundaries. Imprint. 2013;60:44–6. [PubMed]

25.

Grajales FJ 3rd, Sheps S, Ho K, Novak-Lauscher H, Eysenbach G. Social media: a review and tutorial of applications in medicine and health care. J Med Internet Res. 2014;16:e13. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

26.

von Muhlen M, Ohno-Machado L. Reviewing social media use by clinicians. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2012;19:777–81. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

27.

Peck JL. Social media in nursing education: responsible integration for meaningful use. J Nurs Educ. 2014;53:164–9. [DOI] [PubMed]

28.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). ASHP statement on use of social media by pharmacy professionals: developed through the ASHP pharmacy student forum and the ASHP section of pharmacy informatics and technology and approved by the ASHP Board of Directors on April 13, 2012, and by the ASHP House of Delegates on June 10, 2012. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2012;69:2095–7. [DOI] [PubMed]

29.

Dizon DS, Graham D, Thompson MA, Johnson LJ, Johnston C, Fisch MJ, et al. Practical guidance: the use of social media in oncology practice. J Oncol Pract. 2012;8:e114–24. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

30.

Lambert KM, Barry P, Stokes G. Risk management and legal issues with the use of social media in the healthcare setting. J Healthc Risk Manag. 2012;31:41–7. [DOI] [PubMed]

31.

George DR, Rovniak LS, Kraschnewski JL. Dangers and opportunities for social media in medicine. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2013;56:453–62. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

32.

Fogelson NS, Rubin ZA, Ault KA. Beyond likes and tweets: an in-depth look at the physician social media landscape. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2013;56:495–508. [DOI] [PubMed]

33.

Chauhan B, George R, Coffin J. Social media and you: what every physician needs to know. J Med Pract Manage. 2012;28:206–9. [PubMed]

34.

Childs LM, Martin CY. Social media profiles: striking the right balance. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2012;69:2044–50. [DOI] [PubMed]

35.

Farnan JM, Snyder Sulmasy L, Worster BK, Chaudhry HJ, Rhyne JA, Arora VM; American College of Physicians Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee; American College of Physicians Council of Associates; Federation of State Medical Boards Special Committee on Ethics and Professionalism. Online medical professionalism: patient and public relationships: policy statement from the American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards. Ann Intern Med. 2013;158:620–7. [DOI] [PubMed]

36.

Batrinca B, Treleaven PC. Social media analytics: a survey of techniques, tools and platforms. AI Soc. 2015;30:89–116. [DOI]

37.

Heikinheimo V, Di Minin E, Tenkanen H, Hausmann A, Erkkonen J, Toivonen T. User-Generated Geographic Information for Visitor Monitoring in a National Park: A Comparison of Social Media Data and Visitor Survey. ISPRS Int J Geo-Inf. 2017;6:85. [DOI]

38.

Kapoor KK, Tamilmani K, Rana NP, Patil P, Dwivedi YK, Nerur S. Advances in Social Media Research: Past, Present and Future. Inform Syst Front. 2018;20:531–58.

39.

McCormick TH, Lee H, Cesare N, Shojaie A, Spiro ES. Using Twitter for Demographic and Social Science Research: Tools for Data Collection and Processing. Sociol Methods Res. 2017;46:390–421. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

40.

Weinreich NK. A more perfect union: Integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in social marketing research. Soc Mar Q. 1996;3:53–8. [DOI]

41.

Houston L, Martin A, Yu P, Probst Y. Time-consuming and expensive data quality monitoring procedures persist in clinical trials: A national survey. Contemp Clin Trials. 2021;103:106290. [DOI] [PubMed]

42.

Gu Y, Qian ZS, Chen F. From Twitter to detector: Real-time traffic incident detection using social media data. Transp Res Part C Emerg Technol. 2016;67:321–42. [DOI]

43.

Hargittai E. Potential Biases in Big Data: Omitted Voices on Social Media. Soc Sci Comput Rev. 2020;38:10–24. [DOI]

44.

Gelinas L, Pierce R, Winkler S, Cohen IG, Lynch HF, Bierer BE. Using Social Media as a Research Recruitment Tool: Ethical Issues and Recommendations. Am J Bioeth. 2017;17:3–14. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

45.

Kosinski M, Matz SC, Gosling SD, Popov V, Stillwell D. Facebook as a research tool for the social sciences: Opportunities, challenges, ethical considerations, and practical guidelines. Am Psychol. 2015;70:543–56. [DOI] [PubMed]

46.

Van Noorden R. Online collaboration: Scientists and the social network. Nature. 2014;512:126–9. Erratum in: Nature. 2014;512:243. [DOI] [PubMed]

47.

Walsh MN. Social Media and Cardiology. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;71:1044–7. [DOI] [PubMed]

48.

Mohammadi E, Thelwall M, Kwasny M, Holmes KL. Academic information on Twitter: A user survey. PLoS One. 2018;13:e0197265. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

49.

Johansson P, Oléni M, Fridlund B. Patient satisfaction with nursing care in the context of health care: a literature study. Scand J Caring Sci. 2002;16:337–44. [DOI] [PubMed]

50.

Cooper LA, Powe NR. Disparities in patient experiences, health care processes, and outcomes: The role of patient–provider racial, ethnic, and language concordance [Internet]. The Commonwealth Fund; [cited 2004 Jul 1]. Available from: https://drum.lib.umd.edu/items/a5796d22-069e-4fa5-82f7-244b40e2c1d1

51.

Hersher R. Internet data miners strike disease detection gold. Nature Med. 2012;18:185. [DOI] [PubMed]

52.

Cook S, Conrad C, Fowlkes AL, Mohebbi MH. Assessing Google flu trends performance in the United States during the 2009 influenza virus A (H1N1) pandemic. PLoS One. 2011;6:e23610. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

53.

Carneiro HA, Mylonakis E. Google trends: a web-based tool for real-time surveillance of disease outbreaks. Clin Infect Dis. 2009;49:1557–64. [DOI] [PubMed]

54.

Ginsberg J, Mohebbi MH, Patel RS, Brammer L, Smolinski MS, Brilliant L. Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data. Nature. 2009;457:1012–4. [DOI] [PubMed]

55.

Thacker SB, Stroup DF, Sencer DJ. Epidemic assistance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: role of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, 1946–2005. Am J Epidemiol. 2011;174:S4–15. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

56.

Freifeld CC, Mandl KD, Reis BY, Brownstein JS. HealthMap: global infectious disease monitoring through automated classification and visualization of Internet media reports. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2008;15:150–7. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

57.

Houlihan CF, Whitworth JA. Outbreak science: recent progress in the detection and response to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Clin Med (Lond). 2019;19:140–4. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

58.

Tambo E, Kazienga A, Talla M, Chengho CF, Fotsing C. Digital Technology and Mobile Applications Impact on Zika and Ebola Epidemics Data Sharing and Emergency Response. J Health Med Informat. 2017;8:254. [DOI]

59.

Blench M. Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN). AMTA. 2008:299–303. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

60.

Dion M, AbdelMalik P, Mawudeku A. Big Data and the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN). Can Commun Dis Rep. 2015;41:209–14. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

61.

Smolinski MS, Crawley AW, Olsen JM, Jayaraman T, Libel M. Participatory Disease Surveillance: Engaging Communities Directly in Reporting, Monitoring, and Responding to Health Threats. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2017;3:e62. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

62.

Paul S, Mgbere O, Arafat R, Yang B, Santos E. Modeling and Forecasting Influenza-like Illness (ILI) in Houston, Texas Using Three Surveillance Data Capture Mechanisms. Online J Public Health Inform. 2017;9:e187. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

63.

Hassan Zadeh A, Zolbanin HM, Sharda R, Delen D. Social Media for Nowcasting Flu Activity: Spatio-Temporal Big Data Analysis. Inf Syst Front. 2019;21:743–60. [DOI]

64.

Long X, Qi L, Ou Z, Zu X, Cao Z, Zeng X, et al. Evolving use of social media among Chinese urologists: Opportunity or challenge? PLoS One. 2017;12:e0181895. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

65.

Dol J, Tutelman PR, Chambers CT, Barwick M, Drake EK, Parker JA, et al. Health Researchers’ Use of Social Media: Scoping Review. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21:e13687. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

66.

Moreno MA, Goniu N, Moreno PS, Diekema D. Ethics of social media research: common concerns and practical considerations. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2013;16:708–13. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

67.

Arigo D, Pagoto S, Carter-Harris L, Lillie SE, Nebeker C. Using social media for health research: Methodological and ethical considerations for recruitment and intervention delivery. Digit Health. 2018;4:2055207618771757. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

68.

Dizon DS, Sedrak MS, Lewis MA, Cook E, Fisch MJ, Klemp JR, et al.; SWOG Digital Engagement Committee. Incorporating Digital Tools to Improve Clinical Trial Infrastructure: A White Paper From the Digital Engagement Committee of SWOG. JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2018;2:1–8. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

69.

Goldberg EM, Rosen RK, Dizon DS, Langdon KJ, Davoodi NM, Wray TB, et al. Using Social Media for Clinical Research: Recommendations and Examples From the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health. J Med Internet Res. 2022;24:e35804. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

70.

Hansen D, Sheehan DK, Stephenson P. Family caregiver recruitment via social media: challenges, opportunities and lessons. Int J Palliat Nurs. 2017;23:84–7. [DOI] [PubMed]

71.

Brady JT, Kelly ME, Stein SL. The Trump Effect: With No Peer Review, How Do We Know What to Really Believe on Social Media? Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2017;30:270–6. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

72.

Chou WY, Gaysynsky A, Vanderpool RC. The COVID-19 Misinfodemic: Moving Beyond Fact-Checking. Health Educ Behav. 2021;48:9–13. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

73.

Carlson M. Facebook in the News: Social media, journalism, and public responsibility following the 2016 Trending Topics controversy. Digit J. 2018;6:4–20. [DOI]

74.

Bender JL, Cyr AB, Arbuckle L, Ferris LE. Ethics and Privacy Implications of Using the Internet and Social Media to Recruit Participants for Health Research: A Privacy-by-Design Framework for Online Recruitment. J Med Internet Res. 2017;19:e104. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

75.

Househ M, Grainger R, Petersen C, Bamidis P, Merolli M. Balancing Between Privacy and Patient Needs for Health Information in the Age of Participatory Health and Social Media: A Scoping Review. Yearb Med Inform. 2018;27:29–36. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

76.

Filkins BL, Kim JY, Roberts B, Armstrong W, Miller MA, Hultner ML, et al. Privacy and security in the era of digital health: what should translational researchers know and do about it? Am J Transl Res. 2016;8:1560–80. [PubMed] [PMC]

77.

DeCamp M. Physicians, social media, and conflict of interest. J Gen Intern Med. 2013;28:299–303. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

78.

Al-Dmour H, Masa’deh RE, Salman A, Abuhashesh M, Al-Dmour R. Influence of Social Media Platforms on Public Health Protection Against the COVID-19 Pandemic via the Mediating Effects of Public Health Awareness and Behavioral Changes: Integrated Model. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22:e19996. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

79.

Albrecht SS, Aronowitz SV, Buttenheim AM, Coles S, Dowd JB, Hale L, et al. Lessons Learned From Dear Pandemic, a Social Media–Based Science Communication Project Targeting the COVID-19 Infodemic. Public Health Rep. 2022;137:449–56. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

80.

Hussain MS, Mohit PP, Kumari BA. Treatment modalities of the COVID-19 pandemic through repurposed drugs and status of vaccines. Int J Appl Pharm. 2021;13:48–58. [DOI]

81.

Merchant RM, South EC, Lurie N. Public Health Messaging in an Era of Social Media. JAMA. 2021;325:223–4. [DOI] [PubMed]

82.

Mheidly N, Fares J. Leveraging media and health communication strategies to overcome the COVID-19 infodemic. J Public Health Policy. 2020;41:410–20. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

83.

Mellado C, Hallin D, Cárcamo L, Alfaro R, Jackson D, Humanes ML, et al. Sourcing Pandemic News: A Cross-National Computational Analysis of Mainstream Media Coverage of COVID-19 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Digit J. 2021;9:1261–85. [DOI]

84.

Ahmed W, Vidal-Alaball J, Downing J, Seguí FL. COVID-19 and the 5G Conspiracy Theory: Social Network Analysis of Twitter Data. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22:e19458. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

85.

Hussain MS, Sharma P, Dhanjal DS, Khurana N, Vyas M, Sharma N, et al. Nanotechnology based advanced therapeutic strategies for targeting interleukins in chronic respiratory diseases. Chem Biol Interact. 2021;348:109637. [DOI] [PubMed]

86.

Gunasekeran DV, Chew A, Chandrasekar EK, Rajendram P, Kandarpa V, Rajendram M, et al. The Impact and Applications of Social Media Platforms for Public Health Responses Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Literature Review. J Med Internet Res. 2022;24:e33680. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]

87.

Hussain MS, Sharma G. The Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases due to COVID-19 pandemic. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2024;70:40–50. [DOI] [PubMed]

88.

Dow BJ, Johnson AL, Wang CS, Whitson J, Menon T. The COVID‐19 pandemic and the search for structure: Social media and conspiracy theories. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2021;15:e12636. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC]