Social Networks – A New Way of Communicating in Healthcare

Gordana Jelić – Academy of Technical and Art Applied Studies Belgrade, Department School of Information and Communication
Studies, Zdravka Čelara 16, Belgrade, Serbia

Danica Mamula Tartalja – Academy of Technical and Art Applied Studies Belgrade, Department School of Information and Communication Studies, Zdravka Čelara 16, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract:The advancement in IC technologies has provided health sys­tems with newer and better means of reaching large populations. This pa­per investigates how social networks facilitate health message-sharing on the Internet and provide users with numerous tools to create, publish or share various content formats. The literature review points out two basic motives for the use of social networks by sick people: “information sup­port” aimed at obtaining information and increasing knowledge about the disease and its therapies by sharing experiences with other users, and “social and emotional support” enabled by digital environments which encourage empathy among online peers allowing each person to access help from different social media while controlling the level of disclosure of their identity and condition. The authors of this paper conclude that a deeper understanding of shared content and user behavior in online set­tings can help communicators improve health literacy, raise community awareness and provide social support.

6th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2022 – Conference Proceedings, Hybrid (University of Maribor, Slovenia), October 27, 2022

ITEMA Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2022 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-63-9, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2022

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

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