Online social networks are becoming an increasingly prevalent strategy for public health and other stakeholders to cut down unhealthy behaviors. Whether they’re built for a mainstream audience or to address the issues of a focused patient population, these digital communities all share a major challenge: members who aren’t interested in participating.
“Poor engagement in a digital behavior change...
Facebook is introducing a new feature in India to help promote blood donation and connect donors with people in need of blood, the company announced in a blog post yesterday.
The feature will roll out in two phases. Starting on October 1 (India's National Blood Donor Day), Facebook will begin prompting users to sign up to be blood donors, and to optionally share that they've signed up. Users can...
Damon Centola
When it comes to public health, the conventional wisdom about how best to spread information on social networks might need to be turned on its head, according to a recently published paper by Professor Damon Centola of the MIT Sloan School of Management, entitled "Social Media and the Science of Health Behavior."
"If you really want people to change their diet, their health, their...
