Benefits and Risks Associated With Use of Social Media by People With Health Issues: Focusing on Mental Illness, HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Intellectual Disability, and Diabetes

Introduction

In 2019, the number of social media users worldwide was 3.534 billion, up 11% from the prior year; 46% of people actively use social media around the world (We Are Social, 2019). The number of users is expected to continue to increase in the future (Statista, 2019a). Compared to other regions, the United States (U.S.) has the top social media penetration rate, roughly 70% (Statista, 2019b) and most emerging adults in the U.S. use social media (Bjornsen, 2018). Also, 90% of American young adults (18 to 29 years) used at least one SNS (social network site), which is one form of social media, compared with 12% in 2005 (Perrin, 2015). The time spent on SNSs among emerging adults is high, around 52 minutes every day (Coyne, Padilla-Walker, & Howard, 2013; Jacobsen & Forste, 2011). Emerging adults use social media for various purposes, such as maintaining friendships (Barker, 2009) and developing romantic relationships (Fox, Warber, & Makstaller, 2013). Previous studies showed that the use of social media is associated with various positive outcomes for the users; in particular, the number of Facebook friends is related to perceived social support, reduced stress, and less physical illness (Nabi, Prestin, & So, 2013) and the use of Facebook is also related to psychological well-being, especially for those with low self-esteem and low life satisfaction (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007).

Consequently, it is not surprising that people with health issues use social media with the intent to improve their quality of life (e.g., Househ, Borycki, & Kushniruk, 2014; Moorhead et al., 2013; Shpigelman & Gill, 2014a). Househ et al. (2014) reviewed 12 studies on the use of social media by patients with various health issues and found that social media empowered the patients in various ways. For example, people with health issues used YouTube to share their experiences regarding their illness and coping methods, and other people with the same illness can gain useful knowledge and information by viewing the video. Similarly, Moorhead et al., (2013) reviewed 98 studies on social media use for health communication among patients, general public, and health professionals. The findings indicate that social media could provide patents with opportunities to interact with others such as other patients and health professionals and could help them gain emotional support from other patients. Further, Shpigelman and Gill (2014a) surveyed individuals suffering from disabilities, such as physical disability, Autism, hearing disability, and mental illness, to examine these individuals’ use of Facebook. Results showed that 69% of the participants visited Facebook at least once a day and 48% of them reported having up to 200 Facebook friends. In addition, 10.1% of them reported that they did not have Facebook friends with disabilities, while 89.9% of them indicated that they had Facebook friends with disabilities. Qualitative analyses of responses to the open-ended questions suggested that people with disabilities use Facebook to seek support and advice from other users. These findings revealed that social media play significant roles for those with health issues in maintaining and developing interpersonal relationships as well as obtaining support.