Facebook

From HLWIKI Canada

Are you interested in contributing to HLWIKI Canada - hlwiki.ca? contact: dean.giustini@ubc.ca

To browse other articles on a range of HSL topics, see the wiki index.

Introduction

See also Gowalla, Social networking and Web 2.0

On 23 April 2012, Facebook disclosed it has 901 million users in its network (Babad Globe & Mail, 2012). This number consolidates its place as the largest social media site in the world. Even though the social media giant dropped that incredible statistic from its S-1 application, the number is inching closer to topping the 1 billion mark, and should do so some time in 2012. Some other eye-popping statistics are that Facebook gets 3.2 billion comments on its platform every day, and 300 million photos are uploaded. The site says there are approximately 125 billion friendships on the site, but that number is disputed.

Of the 901 million user accounts, Facebook says that ~526 million are active users (meaning daily usage). About 488 million have used Facebook mobile in some form in the last period which speaks to how many users access the site. When Facebook filed its IPO in early 2012, it said that its user base was around 845 million. What seems self-evident is that Facebook is by far the most robust of social media sites. Twitter, which passed 500 million users in 2012, is second in numbers, although Twitter has said that only 140 million of those accounts are active daily.

Facebook use in medicine

In a 2010 study, it was shown that nearly every US-accredited medical school maintains a Facebook profile (Kind et al, 2010). Of those, only 13 (of 128 US medical schools) reported writing social media policies to support its usage. It's been suggested that social media policies that have been written could serve as a useful blueprint for mdical schools. It suggested that guidelines and policies should be framed around students’ professional duties and accountabilities in Facebook, using examples to provide context, and written by stakeholders such as physicians, students and patients. Finally, consideration should be duly given to the communication and enforcement of policies.