U.S. healthcare consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet and social media to find health products and services, research health conditions and evaluate treatment options. Now here’s a visualization of just how that’s happening.
The people over at Geonetric put together an infographic to show how consumers are engaging online through social media, search and mobile sites. Most interesting among the statistics is that 80 percent of Internet users are looking for health information online, and health-related searches are up almost 50 percent from last year. And, nearly one in four people use social media to follow the health experiences of friends. That’s good fuel for the numerous companies creating niche social networks for patients to exchange stories and information.
Another interesting statistic: Nearly half of young adults check Facebook before getting out of bed in the morning. That’s all the more reason to post early and often.
