This article was written by Katie Drummond of AOL News (Note: I do NOT claim ownership of this article):
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/for-accurate-health-advice-dont-rely-on-facebook/19701284
The article discussed concerns among doctors and health professionals over the results of a study released by Harvard University, indicating that increasing numbers of patients are looking to “Facebook” wall posts for medical advice on managing their diseases. According to the study, much of the free “medical advice” floating around on the social networking site was grossly inaccurate. On the one hand, I can understand wanting to commiserate with fellow patients and disease sufferers in a friendly and open social forum such as “Facebook.” On the other hand, I think it’s outrageous that people would actually think themselves qualified to be doling out medical advice to others online. I’m even more amazed that non medical professionals would not only be foolish enough to cavalierly dispense advice of such a serious and intimate nature on the internet but that others would be foolish enough to take it. What can’t you convince people of just by putting it online? And Facebook? Really? Could these people have chosen a more juvenile, confidence-shattering forum? I wouldn’t take medical advice from a poster on Facebook anymore than I’d take it from Colonel Sanders. The fact that doctors have to discourage their patients from taking their medical advice from a social networking site for teenagers is a truly troubling illustration of the extent to which these online social networks are pervading Americans’ lives, and I for one, am glad I no longer have a Facebook account.
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