How has social media contributed to healthcare?
The day the internet was discovered in the world, no one was aware of its potential. Today there is a social media system that brings us close and keeps us connected to the world. We can explore new places and people by sitting in our homes. The Internet is used by different people for different purposes, almost everything is possible on the internet. One of the essential elements of the internet is social media. Social media changed everything completely, from our lifestyle to personal habits. Humans have evolved immensely due to the internet.
Social media was initially introduced with a motive to encourage connectivity among people so that people can get over traditional methods of communication and shift towards using smart technology for quick and easy communication. But later on, the internet evolved and started to serve several new and amazing purposes. Like, such as introducing new communities, spreading awareness, providing information, and many more. When we look deep into it, we find that social media has contributed to the growth of healthcare as well. Health is one of the alarming issues these days, as people forget to look after their health due to their busy schedules. Hence, the internet has done a tremendous job to make people aware of healthcare.
- Raising awareness–
social media is a great source for raising awareness about any topic. When it comes to healthcare it plays a crucial role to alert the doctors and hospitals on Twitter or Facebook when a tragic incident occurs. This is of great help as healthcare workers are able to reach the incident spot on time and treat the people in need. Moreover, it is also beneficial to make people aware of outrageous diseases. For example, as we experienced in the case of COVID-19 where social media turned out to be a great source for spreading awareness. We saw many influencers who were making people aware of daily rising cases and gave emphasis on wearing masks, using sanitizers, and maintaining social distancing. The best thing is they presented it in a creative manner and ended up catching the attention of millions of people. Hence, social media is a credible source for spreading awareness. This makes the user aware and alert regarding serious health concerns.
- Health activists–
Health activism is an action to support a cause, which needs immediate attention. Social media has provided a platform to activists to raise their norms and activities in favor of various social health causes. They can directly speak to their audience about prevailing health concerns and can share essential measures for the same. In this follower play a massive role, as on social media credibility is equal to the number of people following you and taking your content seriously. If you want to become one of them, then a significant number of followers will help you to create an impact. You can even build a community for health enthusiasts, if you have a good count of organic followers, you can simply buy them to build a community. As followers for Instagram or followers for tiktok are easily available on platforms for trading followers. After which you can go ahead with becoming a renowned health influencer or an activist for health enthusiasts.
- Peer support–
The central idea of social media is to connect people. Hence, it is a great platform to find support. As there are a lot of people going through some common life problems or mental health conditions. In this case, social media connects people who are in need of mental support. Studies show that having the support of family, friends, and peers is of great help to overcome mental stress or tension. As people always seek someone, with whom they can share their feelings freely. Thus, social media is one such platform where people can meet and talk about their existing issues, with mutual understanding.
- Proper guidance–
social media is a highly informative platform, where you can gain knowledge about various topics, through posts and videos. The contents are made with creativity, to make you understand the subject better. There are numerous professional accounts of health experts and doctors on social media who keep their audience aware of new health diseases and give tips on leading a healthy life. Moreover, you can message them with any of your queries and doubts and you get a reply then and there. Sometimes small posts and short videos on social media are of great knowledge as the content they have is highly informative. Thus, social media can be your credible source of guidance regarding health concerns, you just need to find people.
- Medical information–
People started using social media as a means to diagnose themselves and seek help. Information about anything is available on social media, it provides awareness to the people regarding various health issues. Sometimes we tend to ignore many severe symptoms in our body that can result in serious consequences later. Hence, social media helps us to gain realization regarding the same, so in a way, it is a good platform for self-realizing and diagnosing health issues. Moreover, it is a place where health workers get the opportunity to spread general awareness regarding most sought-after health problems like diabetes, cardiac diseases, and allergic and geriatric diseases. Patients can search for information about doctors, physicians, and specialists.
- Healthcare NGOs–
There are a large community of NGOs on social media that work for the health sector. These NGOs provide meaningful support, information, and help in case of early and immediate requirements. These organizations are mostly trustable as they are government registered. For any sort of health-related issue, they stand to help and aware of people around the same. Hence, due to social media, these organizations get a necessary platform to provide help which is the ultimate motive of their work. Moreover, they pay regular visits to nearby hospitals and give regular updates on various new changes and facilities of the hospitals nearby.
Conclusion
Social media is successful in making people realize the importance of health in life. As we see nowadays, a very small number of people pay attention to their health and the reason they give is their busy schedule. In this scenario, many tend to suffer from mental health issues and physical health issues, these issues turn into severe conditions when continuously ignored. Thus, we know that people spend the majority of their time on social media, they take a glimpse of it every two hours. Hence, it is a powerful tool to make people aware of various emerging and existing health issues. Moreover, it is a significant platform to provide quality information about various necessary things, which includes the importance of health and emerging medical facilities. Doctors, specialists and healthcare experts are easily available at any point of time for consultation. Thus, in a way, social media has motivated many people to take better care of themselves.
