| Title |
Facebook as a Platform for Health Information and Communication: A Case Study of a Diabetes Group
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Medical Systems, April 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10916-013-9942-7 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Yan Zhang, Dan He, Yoonmo Sang |
| Abstract |
As one of the largest social networking sites in the world, Facebook holds a great potential for promoting health. In this exploratory study, we analyzed 1352 messages posted to an active Facebook diabetes group to identify the characteristics of the group. The results revealed that the group was international in nature. Users overcame language barriers to communicate with people with similar conditions. Users' interactions were structured around information, emotion, and community building. They exchanged medical and lifestyle information, and highly valued their peers' personal experiences, opinions, and advice. They also demonstrated a positive attitude toward the reality of living with diabetes and generously provided encouragements and affirmations to one another. Great efforts were made to maintain the proper operation of the community by the administrator and a group of core members. As a result, the group was shaped as a social network where peer users share social support, cultivate companionship, and exert social influence. Based on the results, we discussed future directions for research of health communities in a highly connected world. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 10 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4 | 40% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 30% |
| Unknown | 3 | 30% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 6 | 60% |
| Scientists | 2 | 20% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 20% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 258 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 3 | 1% |
| Denmark | 1 | <1% |
| Ghana | 1 | <1% |
| Australia | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 252 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 49 | 19% |
| Student > Master | 39 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 24 | 9% |
| Researcher | 21 | 8% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 17 | 7% |
| Other | 40 | 16% |
| Unknown | 68 | 26% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 48 | 19% |
| Computer Science | 32 | 12% |
| Psychology | 19 | 7% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 19 | 7% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 18 | 7% |
| Other | 48 | 19% |
| Unknown | 74 | 29% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 April 2016.
All research outputs
#2,543,412
of 22,840,638 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Medical Systems
#57
of 1,149 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#19,939
of 175,488 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Medical Systems
#1
of 8 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,840,638 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 88th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,149 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 175,488 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 8 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them