College students' uses and perceptions of social networking sites for health and wellness information

Introduction. This study explores college students’ use of social networking sites for health and wellness information and their perceptions of this use. Method. Thirty-eight college students were interviewed. Analysis. The interview transcripts were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis method. Results. Those who had experience using social networking sites for health information used the platform mainly to check health updates of a loved one, find lifestyle information, and ask about treatments for mild conditions. Overall, participants were sceptical about the quality of information, concerned about the lack of medical knowledge of their friends or peers, and wary about possible social risks and invasion of privacy. Based on the results, a model of users’ acceptance of social network sites for health and wellness information was proposed and implications for designing social platforms to better support health inquiries were discussed. Conclusions: Using social networking sites for health and wellness information is not a popular behaviour among college students in this study and social networking sites seem not to be a wellperceived platform for health and wellness information.