Collaborating through Social Media to Create Health Awareness

This paper examines the role that individuals and organizations can play in creating awareness through the use of social media. In the healthcare context, creating cancer awareness is key in early detection of cancer as well as cancer prevention altogether. Using a multiple case study analysis, we are able to understand how collaboration through social media is used to promote such awareness. We find that social media is used to create an online community that drives the creation of cancer awareness in many different ways. This research has implications for organizations looking to use social media to promote awareness as it explains the building process and role of social media grassroots communities.