Teenagers Wanting Medical Advice: Is MySpace the Answer?

Abstract

Roughly 55% of internet-using teens use social networking sites (ie, MySpace, Facebook) [1]. Many join health-related interest groups, which are often unmonitored. This poses a possible threat, because adolescents use the internet as a primary source of health information [2] and may be unable to judge sites' reliability and accuracy. Because social networking sites are relatively new, little research examines their use and influence. This study describes the content of asthma-related interest groups on MySpace.