Social Media News and Research

Latest Social Media News and Research

Journalists, experts discuss China's response to H7N9 outbreak

In a conversation in the ChinaFile blog, David Wertime, co-founder and co-editor of Tea Leaf Nation, an English-language online magazine that analyzes Chinese social media, speaks with Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations; journalist Isabel Hilton; Donald Clarke, a professor at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.; Susan Jakes, editor of ChinaFile; Dorinda Elliott, editor at large at ChinaFile; and James Fallows, a correspondent for The Atlantic, about the emergence of a new strain of avian flu called H7N9 in China and the country's response to the outbreak so far.

6 Apr 2013

HIV home tests: an interview with Dr Nitika Pant Pai, McGill University

30 years into the HIV epidemic, there is no vaccine in sight. Yet, even though there are fantastic and effective cheap and universally available drugs, and a treatment as prevention strategy is known to work, people do not wish to get tested for HIV! If everyone got tested, and treated, we could have brought the infection under control a long time ago!

21 Mar 2013

U.S. continues to respond to Syrian crisis

Noting "[t]he two-year anniversary of the Syria uprising coincides with another dark milestone: over one million refugees have fled Syria," Anne Richard, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, writes in the State Department's "DipNote" blog, "This escalating crisis ... is challenging all of us to do more. We must ensure more life-saving assistance reaches people who need it."

21 Mar 2013

dailyRx News Network expands Total Patient Engagement solution

The dailyRx News Network, a leading digital publisher of health news, announced today that its Total Patient Engagement solution has been expanded and enhanced to include dailyRx-created video health news.

4 Mar 2013

Facebook ‘Likes’ indeed an indicator of hospital quality and patient satisfaction

While those active on social media aren't shy about expressing opinions on their Facebook pages, how much do their "Likes" really reflect the quality of an organization? American Journal of Medical Quality (a SAGE journal) recently published a study that found that Facebook "Likes" were indeed an indicator of hospital quality and patient satisfaction.

3 Mar 2013

Britain children urgently need protection from alcohol marketing, say experts

Children in Britain are more exposed to alcohol promotion than adults and need much stronger protection, warn experts on bmj.com today.

28 Feb 2013

Research shows many cancers can be prevented with healthy lifestyle choices

Each year more individuals worldwide die from cancer than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined. With research showing that many cancers can be prevented with healthy lifestyle choices, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is working to raise awareness of preventive tactics in honor of National Cancer Prevention Month.

27 Feb 2013

Teaching older adults to use Facebook could help improve their cognitive performance

For older adults looking to sharpen their mental abilities, it might be time to log on to Facebook. Preliminary research findings from the University of Arizona suggest that men and women older than 65 who learn to use Facebook could see a boost in cognitive function.

22 Feb 2013

Santarus launches UCERIS for induction of remission in patients with ulcerative colitis

Santarus, Inc. announced today the U.S. commercial launch of UCERIS (budesonide) extended release tablets for the induction of remission in patients with active, mild to moderate ulcerative colitis.

14 Feb 2013

As feds encourage health IT, analysts forecast big increase in telehealth

In an age of the Web, Wi-Fi and ever-present social media, so-called e-health lags far behind. But federal officials leading the multibillion effort to get doctors and hospitals to use health information technology are now reaching out to patients and families to help them become e-patients.

12 Feb 2013

Social networking sites could effectively help prevent HIV infection among at-risk groups

Facebook and other social networking technologies could serve as effective tools for preventing HIV infection among at-risk groups, new UCLA research suggests.

9 Feb 2013

Mental health in young people: an interview with Professor Colum Dunne

Ireland, and many other countries, is witnessing increases in problematic and complex youth mental health challenges. In Ireland, specifically, there has been a rash of high profile cases where young people have unfortunately not been able to deal with stress, bullying and other issues.

1 Feb 2013

Economist examines economic, social effects of China's 'one-child policy'

In the current print edition, the Economist includes two articles examining different aspects of China's so-called "one-child policy." The first article looks at the effects of the country's shrinking working-age population, which the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently announced "shrank last year by a total of 3.45 million," the magazine notes, adding, "The new statistics will amplify calls for reform of China's one-child policy."

31 Jan 2013

Vaccine confidence: an interview with Dr Heidi Larson

Here at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine we are running a project called the Vaccine Confidence Project and we have a global surveillance monitoring information around the world on media, social media, all sorts of information, reports from governments, UN, other sources, looking for any what we call “signals” of public distrust or concerns that come up.

30 Jan 2013

Brain areas work together at the same time to recall memories

Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place.

30 Jan 2013

New tweet-screening method effectively tracks flu cases

Sifting through social media messages has become a popular way to track when and where flu cases occur, but a key hurdle hampers the process: how to identify flu-infection tweets. Some tweets are posted by people who have been sick with the virus, while others come from folks who are merely talking about the illness. If you are tracking actual flu cases, such conversations about the flu in general can skew the results.

29 Jan 2013

Twitter posts could help health officials track disease outbreaks

This flu season you've probably seen a number of friends on social media talking about symptoms. New research from Brigham Young University says such posts on Twitter could actually be helpful to health officials looking for a head start on outbreaks.

23 Jan 2013

Research into effects of cyber bullying, online relationships and social media

When we typically think of kids who are the victims of school bullying, what comes to mind are isolated youth who do not fit in. A new study, however, shows that when that harassment occurs online, the victims tend to be in mainstream social groups at the school - and they are often friends or former friends, not strangers.

21 Jan 2013

Research roundup: Ameliorating physician shortages; Patients' perceptions of bias

The authors note that there is a consensus "that the current shortage of primary care physicians will worsen over the next ten years as the nation's population grows and ages and as insurance coverage expands as a result of the Affordable Care Act." They examine whether workplace changes will impact that assessment.

19 Jan 2013

Blog highlights global health challenges, opportunities in 2013

Chatham House's "Expert Comment" blog features commentary on four global health issues the organization's experts view as important in the year ahead.

16 Jan 2013