Ethical Issues in Social Media Usage

Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE 1
Ethical Issues in Social Media Usage
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ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
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Executive summary
Due to enhanced means and possibilities to acquire data about treatments and diseases
that are closely associated with the development of internet and social media technologies,
patients are becoming knowledgeable and their need to be involved in their care is increasing.
Through Use of mobile and web technologies and social media patients can be able to
communicate with others, manage their diseases and be closely monitored. Besides, through
these technologies, researchers can recruit patients for medical analysis or study drug
effectiveness. Nevertheless, limited security and privacy, and low communication hurdles in
social media results to problems from an ethical viewpoint. The paper discusses the ethical issues
to be examined before exploiting social media in contexts of healthcare.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
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Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Problem statement........................................................................................................................5
Objectives.....................................................................................................................................5
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Social Media usage for Youth......................................................................................................5
Ethical Issues on the doctor-patient relationship and communication.........................................7
Crowdsourcing in Healthcare.......................................................................................................8
Social Media Integration in Medical Environments and EHR....................................................9
Proposed Framework.....................................................................................................................12
Strengths of the proposed framework........................................................................................13
Weaknesses of the proposed framework....................................................................................14
Ethical, Professional, and Technical Challenges...........................................................................15
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................18

ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
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Introduction
Due to enhanced means and possibilities to acquire data about treatments and diseases
that are closely associated with the development of internet and social media technologies,
patients are becoming knowledgeable and their need to be involved in their care is increasing.
Social media are technologies and digital media that allow users to share information and
generate media information in community with others or individually. The media is growing and
is used as a tool for sharing and gathering information, supporting communication and social
networking concerning topics of health, supporting processes of healthcare, and bringing
individuals together. Its support in such a manner promotes patient empowerment allowing them
to manage their healthcare needs. Internet evolvement from a technical and limited resource, to
the current dynamic web 2.0 where individuals have the ability to exchange information means
many individuals with an enduring condition are now exposing their personal health details into
the public realm such as social network sites, videos, discussion boards and virtual environments.
Through Use of mobile and web technologies and social media patients can be able to
communicate with others, manage their diseases and be closely monitored (Desai, Ndukwu &
Mitchell, 2015). Besides, through these technologies, researchers can recruit patients for medical
analysis or study drug effectiveness. Nevertheless, limited security and privacy, and low
communication hurdles in social media results to problems from an ethical viewpoint. Ethics is a
discipline that handles the bad and good and moral obligations and duty. Public health ethics
handle particular moral questions concerning public actions for life elongation, disease
prevention, or physical and psychological well-being. On the contrary, medical ethics focuses on
the relationship between doctors and patients. The problem of how ethical standards may be
employed to online health analysis is an existing challenge for health professionals, researchers,