Susannah Fox

The recent passage of health reform legislation has brought with it the promise of unprecedented change in the delivery of care in our country. According to a recent PEW report, once online people can tap into an ever-widening pool of information including blogs, podcasts, doctor-rating sites and social network sites. The internet does not replace health professionals, but provides a way for people to gather and share information in a rapid-learning system that can best be described as "participatory medicine."

PEW just released a report Twitter and Status Updating, Fall 2009 indicating that a “social segment” of internet users is flocking to both social network sites and status update services. This segment is likely to grow as ever more internet users adopt mobile devices as a primary means of going online.