Taking the Pulse of Social Media based Health Information.

1. Image: katerhaflickr Circulation of Information Taking the Pulse of Social Media Health Information

2. Image: Laura4Smith, flickr Less than 20 years ago, your health was between you, your doctor and maybe your family.

3. Image: thetartanpodcast, flickr Now, blogging about your health worries, being on an e-mail list for your diagnosis or ‘liking’ a health related cause is more than typical.

4. Since we are always connected, we use our social media tools to influence our health related decisions just like we would buying a new pair of shoes. Image: doug88888, flickr

5. Image: deanjenkinsmorguefile In fact, just over 65% of people who use social media said that it was somewhat to very likely that it would influence their health care decisions.

6. Image: Mark Hunter Furthermore, 61% of adults look online for health information.

7. Yutaka Tsutano, flickr Is technology and social media making us healthier, smarter or more aware?

8. Image: Joe Shabotnik, flickr The answer appears to be yes – but often not because we are getting the right answers but instead we are getting the right questions.

9. say it lead them to ask a doctor new questions, or to get a second opinion from another doctor. 53% Image: Marcus Ramburg, flickr

10. 60% say the information found online affected a decision about how to treat an illness or condition. Image: limowreck666, flickr

11. Our awareness is growing as we connect with the tools to tell us what is going on, right now, right here and around the world. Image: Bogdan L, flickr

12. For example, whoissick.com gives users the ability to click on common symptoms they may be experiencing and see if their symptoms are shared by others nearby. Image: NiklasWikstrom, flickr

13. Image: polifemus, flickr And the Public Health Agency of Canada is happy to connect with you through your phone, Facebook, Twitter, RSS feed or online videos.

14. Image: Spencer E. Holtaway, flickr The Center for Disease Control adds Flickr, a blog, iTunes, Myspace and Youtube to that list!

15. Current health information can even be found by following Twitter Health or by joining Facebook groups dedicated to a specific disease or illnesses. Image: ivanpw, flickr

16. Image: Kevin Saff, flickr All of these tools can keep you better informed about the health trends that might affect you in the future, according to where you live or may be traveling.

17. Image: fsse8info, flickr And if you want to move from a worldwide view to a personal understanding of your own health:

18. Image: ChristianoBetta, flickr There is an app for that!

19. Image: etnyk, flickr The Android Market offers no less than 2,275 results for the search word ‘health’.

20. Image: code_martial, flickr One of these options ‘sleepbot’ offers the ability to track your sleep patterns and even to send the information and graphs to Facebook.

21. Image: mellyjean, flickr Wait. Do I really want all of my Facebook friends, family and potential employers to know when I went to bed, or how much sleep I get during exam times? Probably not.

22. Image: cornflakegirl_, flickr When it comes to your health: Be careful what you post, where you post it, and who you trust.

23. Image: PhotoGraham, flickr Bottom line: Just because everything is becoming interactive, doesn’t mean you should interact with it.

24. Image: epSos.de, flickr Reference Sites: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information/01-Summary-of-Findings.aspx http://www.doseofdigital.com/2011/04/lies-pharma-social-media-statistics https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=1JXXeTq6vJnq1bNAKhzaPtgeTZjzyhF_hkfgjbAeBNQg&hl=en&pli=1 www.whoissick.com http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/