PewInternet.org

Public Relations in the Networked AgeThe new information ecosystem of e-patients

PRSA – Health AcademyIndianapolisMay 3, 2013Lee Rainie (@Lrainie): Director, Pew Internet ProjectEmail: Lrainie@pewinternet.org

What is Pew? A “fact tank”?

“Tell the truth, and trust the people”

-- Joseph N. Pew, Jr.

http://bit.ly/dUvWe3http://bit.ly/100qMub

3

“Tweckle (twek’ul) vt. To abuse a speaker to

Twitter followers in the audience while he/she is

speaking.”

4

5

“Tweckle (twek’ul) vt. To abuse a speaker to

Twitter followers in the audience while he/she is

speaking.”

we need a tshirt, "I survived the keynote disaster of 09"

it's awesome in the "I don't want to turn away from the accident because I

might see a severed head" way

too bad they took my utensils away w/ my plate. I could have jammed the

butter knife into my temple.

Networked patients and the triple revolution

1) internet/broadband2) mobile connectivity

3) social networking; social media

Lisa Kimbell email: “If you're reading this it's because I managed to convince Peter to send it which makes me very happy even tho I'm sure it makes Peter feel uncomfortable. I'm sending a check out to Oregon today…. Since most of us are far away, we can't do much of that but we can provide some cash to reduce the stress of figuring out how to deal with the day-to-day while they're dealing with something way more important.”

Blogger Jessica Lipnack:

“… because you are reading this post, you are connected to P+T. Without their pioneering ideas and frameworks, this kind of connection, between you and me right now, would be very different.”

Then she quotes Lisa Kimbell’s email text

Meaning of P+T for public relations

• Social world has moved from tight groups and organizational hierarchies to looser and more diverse networks – “networked individualism”

• Networks have risen in trust / institutions have declined … but institutions can become network “nodes”

• Networks have segmented and layered• Social media is a part of networking behavior• Amateurs stand beside experts as teachers and helpers

Three tech revolutions

Digital Revolution 1: BroadbandInternet (85%)

3%

Networked creators and curators (among internet users)

• 69% are social networking site users

• 59% share photos and videos

• 46% creators; 41% curators

• 37% contribute rankings and ratings

• 33% create content tags

• 30% share personal creations

• 26% post comments on sites and blogs

• 16% use Twitter

• 15% use Pinterest

• 13% use Instagram

• 14% are bloggers

• 6% use Tumblr

• 18% (of smartphone owners) share their locations; 74% get location info and do location sharing

Internet and health

Other key facts

• Women do many things for e-health at greater levels than men

• Search engines are by far the most likely starting point for health queries

• Half of health searches are for someone else• Better educated folks are health-seeking

omnivores

Impact on health public relations

• More volume, velocity, and variety of information

• New pathways to customers / tastemakers • Rise of “fifth estate” of media actors (including

citizen “vigilantes”) – harder to control message

• More arguments and harder to assess threats• Collapsed contexts of messaging

Revolution 2: Mobile – 89% of adults51% smartphones / 31% tablets

321.7Total U.S. population:315.5 million

2012

Apps > 50% of adults

Mobile Health Information: Demographics

31%(among all cell owners)

45%(among smart phone owners)

Men 29 46Women 33 45Age18-29 42** 66***30-49 39** 59**50-64 19* 34*65+ 9 11Race/ethnicityWhite, Non-Hispanic 27 42Black, Non-Hispanic 35* 47Hispanic 38* 49*Annual household incomeLess than $30,000/yr 28 35$30,000-$49,999 30 42*$50,000-$74,999 37* 56**$75,000+ 37* 68***Education levelNo high school diploma 17 21High school grad 26* 36*Some College 33** 50**College + 38** 61***

Health and mobile – self-tracking

21% use technology -- 7% use apps

• Attention zones change– “Continuous partial attention”– Deep dives– Info snacking

• Real-time, just-in-time searches and availability change process of acquiring and using information– Spontaneous activities– Be “ready for your closeup”

• Augmented reality highlights the merger of data world and real world

Impact on health public relations

Digital Revolution 3Social networking – 59% of all adults

% of internet users

Health and social networks

• Composition and character of people’s social networks changes AND networks become important channels of …– learning – trust – influence

• Organizations can become media companies themselves …

• … and “helper nodes” in people’s networks

Impact on health public relations

• More demands for transparency

A few more thoughts

• More attempts at hacking, breaking and entering, and messing with you

Health outcomes payoff• Monitoring• Interventions and

reinforcement• Skills training – meds/devices• Emotional and social support

among peers• “Information prescriptions”• Amateur research

contributions – online recruitment, communities and clinical trials

Be not afraid

Thank you!