The most important source of information for...

Friday, February 17, 2012

“The most important source of information for people making a day-to-day health decision, in many cases, is not a website, or even a clinician, but another person who shares the same condition. As mobile, social tools spread throughout the population, people are connecting with each other. Why not harness those tools for health?”

Pew Internet & American Life Project Associate Director of Digital Strategy Susannah Fox presented the project’s data on communities of color and young people, particularly as it relates to health, twice this week — On Wednesday as a guest of the Federal HIV/AIDS Web Council and on Thursday as a speaker at a meeting convened by CommonHealth ACTION. She wrapped up her insights here.

Fast facts:

83% of U.S. adults own a cell phone.
35% of U.S. adults own a smartphone and one-quarter of them use their phone as their main source of internet access.
This trend is especially pronounced among adults ages 18-29, adults who identify as black, and adults who identify as Latino.
Text messaging is an epidemic among 18-24 year-olds. This group sends or receives an average of 109.5 text messages PER DAY.