Expectations in the field of the internet and health: an analysis of claims about social networking sites in clinical literature.

Nelya Koteyko,Barrie Gunter,Daniel Hunt

doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12203

Abstract

This article adopts a critical sociological perspective to examine the expectations surrounding the uses of social networking sites (SNSs) articulated in the domain of clinical literature. This emerging body of articles and commentaries responds to the recent significant growth in SNS use, and constitutes a venue in which the meanings of SNSs and their relation to health are negotiated. Our analysis indicates how clinical writing configures the role of SNSs in health care through a range of metaphorical constructions that frame SNSs as a tool, a conduit for information and a traversable space. The use of such metaphors serves not only to describe the new affordances offered by SNSs but also posits distinct lay and professional practices, while reviving a range of celebratory claims about the Internet and health critiqued in sociological literature. These metaphorical descriptions characterise SNS content as essentially controllable by autonomous users while reiterating existing arguments that e-health is both inherently empowering and risky. Our analysis calls for a close attention to these understandings of SNSs as they have the potential to shape future online initiatives, most notably by anticipating successful professional interventions while marginalising the factors that influence users’ online and offline practices and contexts.

Highlights

The establishment of the World Wide Web dates back to the 1990s, the technology, its users and debates around them continue to change
We examined how the present and the future of web-based innovations are actively created through claims over potential applications in the domain of e-health
The analysis has enabled us to reveal the assumptions, visions, fears and closures nestled in particular understandings of the Internet and online social networking in the clinical literature, to trace them to a specific socio-historical context and social actors, and in this way to open them up to critical scrutiny (Wyatt 2004)

Summary

Introduction

The establishment of the World Wide Web dates back to the 1990s, the technology, its users and debates around them continue to change. SNSs are among the most popular applications on the web and are represented by a diverse range of sites that vary in terms of their interfaces, memberships and how and with whom their users can communicate. This popularity is reflected in the increasing use of SNSs in the domain of health care (Hawn, 2009), where both individuals and organisations actively create SNS pages and groups to support different medical conditions (Farmer et al, 2009). With over one billion users (Facebook 2013), Facebook alone hosts 1068 pages established by US hospitals (Bennett 2011), while health-specific SNSs such as PatientsLikeMe allow users to establish profiles centred on longitudinal experiences of illness symptoms and treatments and connect with users in similar circumstances

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