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Cited by 244Health Literacy and Information AccessibilitySocial Media in Health EducationWeb and Library Services

Revisiting the online health information reliability debate in the wake of “web 2.0”: an inter-disciplinary literature and website review

Adams, Samantha A.·2010·International Journal of Medical Informatics
DOI 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2010.01.006
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Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this inter-disciplinary literature review was to explore renewed concerns about the reliability of online health information in light of the increasing popularity of web applications that enable more end-user-generated content ("web 2.0").Methods The findings are based on a literature and web review. Literature was collected at four different points between October 2006 and October 2008 and included 56 sources from 10 academic disciplines. The web review consisted of following 6 blogs (including both new and archived posts, with comments) and one wiki for a period of 1.5 months and assessing the content for relevancy on six points, totaling 63 sources altogether.Results The reliability issues that are identified with respect to "web 2.0" reiterate more general concerns expressed about the web over the last 15 years. The difference, however, lies in the scope and scale of potential problems. Social scientists have also pointed to new issues that can be especially relevant for use of web 2.0 applications in health care. Specific points of renewed concern include: disclosure of authorship and information quality, anonymity and privacy, and the ability of individuals to apply information to their personal situation. Whether or not end-users understand what social scientists call "negative network externalities" is a new concern. Finally, not all reliability issues are negative-social networking and the shift from text-based information to symbolic information, images or interactive information, are considered to enhance patient education and to provide opportunities to reach diverse groups of patients.Conclusions Interactive and collaborative web applications undeniably offer new opportunities for reaching patients and other health care consumers by facilitating lay information creation, sharing and retrieval. However, researchers must be careful and critical when incorporating applications or practices from other fields in health care. We must not easily dismiss concerns about reliability as outdated. Specific issues related to use of newly popular web applications for health purposes must be addressed. Nonetheless, the articles reviewed here also clearly show that potential problems can be addressed and the positive aspects of the technologies embraced.

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  • Traditional websites can have similar issues, but social media lets anyone download information regardless of user or quality, so it spreads quickly online.

    “Similar problems may be encountered with traditional websites, however, social media tools allow people to download information, regardless of who the user and what the quality of the information is, resulting in its rapid dissemination online.22”

    From Social media and Internet usage of orthopaedic surgeons (2017) · cites this paper as [22]

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Authors
Adams, S. A.
Affiliations
Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
Corresponding author
Adams, Samantha A.
ORCID
Adams, Samantha A.
Venue
International Journal of Medical Informatics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-06
Volume
79
Issue
6
Pages
391-400
ISSN
1386-5056 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2010.01.006
OpenAlex
W2051889487
Cited by
244
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 12
FWCI
2.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • International Journal of Medical Informatics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
  • Erasmus+
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
  • Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Web and Library Services
Keywords
online health information, information reliability, Web 2.0, blogs, wikis, authorship disclosure, information quality, patient education, lay health information
MeSH terms
Humans, Medical Informatics, Medical Records Systems, Computerized, Internet, Consumer Health Information

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