Marmarelli 1

Morgan Marmarelli

Instructor Sarah Haak

English 1510

23 October 2017

Social Medicine

Enrico Coiera, the author of Social Networks, Social Media, and Social Diseases, is the

man behind the idea of social media influencing the medical world. To begin, the earliest form

of social media is dated back to 1792, when the telegraph was invented; this invention allowed

for a more efficient and faster way of communication among far distances. Soon after, social

media grew to be a part of society. (Hendricks). In 2013, a study found that 42% of online

adults use social media in multiple ways [and] 73% use at least one site and check-in daily.

(Duggan, Maeve, and Smith). From the endless opportunities that social media offers, it was

clear that it needed to be included in the medical world in some way. Coiera has a wide range of

accomplishments and degrees that set him apart from others. He stepped into the world of

medicine with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, which is a type of computer science degree. Soon

after, he co-founded the Centre for Health informatics in 2000 and spent the next ten years at the

Hewlett-Packard Research Labs located in the United Kingdom; Coiera supervised the

development of numerous e-Health interventions and other projects. The term eHealth has

become increasingly common with the proliferation of the Internet and the ability to provide

access to a broad range of health information (Norman). This step in his career is where he

started to intertvine social media and medicine. (Macquarie University Research).

Enrico Coiera, author of Social Networks, Social Media, and Social Diseases, describes

the growth of social media being used in the medical world. He begins with the topics of social
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networks and social media and how they benefit physicians and medical advances. Social media

is defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to

participate in social networking. Users have access to social media through their phones or

computers; essentially, anything that uses Wi-Fi is a way to access the Internet. The use of

Twitter or Facebook allows people in the medical world to receive advice from each other, get

feedback from patients, and it is a more efficient way of communicating. Along with these

benefits, emergency services, disease management, public health, and health promotion have

found a way to make an impact in the world of social media. Coiera also states that research

studies have found a way to make use of social media and use it to their advantages. Social

media is a more efficient way to obtain data, make observations, and receive feedback; clinical

trials have benefitted tremendously from social networking. The article explains how network

therapy is impacting the medical world, it includes topics such as: social diseases, network

substitution, offline network therapy, and ad online social networks. Although this is a great

breakthrough for the world of social media and medicine, one major concern is privacy. Breach

of patient confidentiality and security has forced organizations to create new policies that follow

guidelines to ensure that everyone is protected.

After viewing the article, it is important to discuss the organization of it. Coiera uses

deductive reasoning, which is a logical process in which a conclusion is based on the

concordance of multiple premises that are generally assumed to be true (What is Deductive

Reasoning?). This is known as the top down approach, which means that the article starts with

a general statement, which is followed by a theory or hypothesis. This is the type of reasoning

that works its way down to a conclusion that is based on evidence. Coiera wants the readers to

know what he is speaking out about and wants them to understand his stance on this topic. The
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reader must realize that this is a study and there are going to be facts and statistics backing up the

claims Coiera makes. Social Networks, Social Media, and Social Diseases is not an

exploration of the idea that social media should be used on the medical world. Coirea makes it

clear that social media and medicine must become one if society wants to make medical

advances and improve the medical world; he is adamite about making a change and uses facts to

support everything he discusses. After completing the study and discussing his findings in this

article, he makes it evident that he wants his readers to know that the pathogenesis or spread of

a disease must be mediated by social networks, these offline social networks can be

manipulated to treat the disease, online social networks can mirror the offline networks and the

substitute for them, and the online networks can be manipulated to change the behaviors that

cause disease. (Coiera 24). Essentially, the article is a way for the author to express his

opinions and views, while educating his audience on a topic he is extremely knowledgeable and

passion about.

The article targets a specific audience and whether the reader feels as if they are included

in this group or not, the question: Does it really make a difference if the reader takes the time to

view the article? always arises. In fact, it does matter that this information spreads to people

that are not included within the targeted audience. The more awareness this topic receives, the

better outcome it will have; any type of knowledge is always useful or beneficial in some way.

In this case, the future of medicine is at stake and the world needs to be aware of what is

happening. There are multiple medical advances that can be discovered by opening the door and

educating society. In todays world, social media plays a huge role in society and it is crucial

that the medical world adapts to this change.

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Coiera addresses numerous topics throughout the article, but there is one in particular that

should make an impact on the reader. The author speaks about disease management, which

includes cancer treatments. It is incredible that cancer patients are able to find peace and

comfort at their fingertips; each person is able to speak to other patients through chat rooms,

blogs, and social media websites such as Twitter or Facebook. Coiera states in the article that

studies have shown a reduced stress level in patients who have sought support through the

Internet. These patients are going through a difficult time and for them to find some type of

outlet is amazing. Along with the breakthrough regarding cancer patients, studies have shown

that social media is being used in invitro fertilization and mental health and wellbeing support.

These small breakthroughs are just as important as the much larger ones because this means that

social media is making an impact on the medical world. Being that this is the 21st century,

medicine is in need of an advancement and social media is clearly the solution. Social media can

change peoples lives, literally.

To emphasize his claims, Coiera repeats the state a benefit, followed by a doubt

system. Throughout his article, he discusses an amazing advancement or opportunity that social

media can bring into the medical world, but he follows it by stating a doubt, which is important

because the risks need to be understood as well. This pattern allows the reader to get the full

experience and engage with the article, which is what Coiera wants. Along with that, it is clear

that he uses a few binaries, such as pros and cons, throughout the reading. For example, Coiera

talks about social media playing a big role in communication, but what about privacy? Privacy

is a major concern when it comes to social media and can cause a lot of issues for both patients

and doctors. There will be a need for strict guidelines as well as a few policies to ensure that

each patient, doctor, and whoever else is involved is protected. Most people do not read the
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Terms and Conditions before signing onto a website, but in the medical world this is going to

be a necessity.

Throughout the entirety of his article, Coiera has been incredibly straight forward.

Personally, I do not feel that there is any type of hidden message within his piece; these are facts

that are being presented to the reader in a very persuasive way. Coiera wants the people to know

about this incredible tool and use it to its advantages; there are numerous opportunities just

waiting to be jumped on and society needs to realize that. The reader might be asking oneself,

what is so important about this? or so what? These questions are the key to understanding

what Coiera is trying to tell the world. The significance of his piece is that Coiera is trying to

change the world, he is trying to make medicine better. The author has completed an immense

amount of research and wants the world to know what is out there; the amount of doors that

social media can open for medicine is amazing. Social media is very open and straight forward,

just as Coiera is being in his article.

In the end, viewers can interpret this article in multiple different ways. For instance, it is

possible that readers see this as a cry for attention from Coiera, that he is just trying to put his

name out there and see where it takes him. I feel that the most plausible interpretation is that

Coiera is trying to state his claims and make sure the world hears them. He states that when it

comes to online social media, the technical and the social are becoming one. If we can directly

harness social media to change the behaviors that lead to disease, then the medium becomes the

medicine. (Coiera 24). I could not say it any better myself, and I feel that this article proves to

the reader that social media is the solution to the medical worlds problems.
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Works Cited

Coiera, Enrico. Social Networks, Social Media, and Social Diseases. British Medical Journal,

Vol 346. No 7912.

<http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23494882.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Adab311a26f72762

0002986974a6d99fc>

Duggan, Maeve, and Aaron Smith. Social Media Update 2013. Pew Research Center: Internet,

Science & Tech, 30 Dec. 2013, <www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/social-media-update-

2013/.>

Hendricks, Drew. Complete History of Social Media: Then And Now. Small Business Trends,

6 May 2013, <smallbiztrends.com/2013/05/the-complete-history-of-social-media-

infographic.html.>

Macquarie University Research, Higher Degree Research & Innovation. Enrico Coiera |

People | AIHI - Australian Institute of Health Innovation,

<aihi.mq.edu.au/people/professor-enrico-coiera.>

Norman, Gregory J. A Review of EHealth Interventions for Physical Activity and Dietary

Behavior Change. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, U.S. National Library of

Medicine, Oct. 2007, <www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2180189/.>

What Is Deductive Reasoning? - Definition from WhatIs.com. <WhatIs.com,

whatis.techtarget.com/definition/deductive-reasoning.>
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Reflection

To begin, I thought that this assignment was a bit more difficult than the previous one,

which it should be considering we are trying to build upon our skills. I found that the analysis

was the hard part because the article I chose was more factual than it was explorational. It is

hard to interpret a message from something that is straight up facts. I thought that I did the best I

could on this paper, considering it was a bit of a learning experience. I did put a tremendous

amount of time into this essay compared to my other ones. I found myself using an outline for

this essay, and I thought that for this particular assignment, it made it a lot easier. I wrote out

questions that should be answered in each paragraph, which made it very easy to write and

connect points. I do find myself going over all of your comments from previous papers and

using those as a guide. I love your feedback and all of the suggestions you give! I truly do like

learning how to be a better writer and I strive to always do my best on each assignment. Along

with that, I liked the way we did the peer editing this time around; I thought it was more helpful

and efficient compared to our previous peer edit. I liked that two people got to look over my

paper and we could actually talk about things with each other. Meghan and I also looked over

each others papers once more on our own time and gave each other revisions. I find that

writing is becoming much easier and I feel like I am learning a lot with each different type of

essay we are assigned. I feel like I still have a few things to work on, which is okay, but I

definitely want to keep improving my writing.