Social media, mobile devices and sensors: Categorizing new techniques for health communication

While the advent of social media and online social networking is still relatively new, a rapid penetration of these technologies is being seen and their impact in relation to health communications is more recently also being considered. In relation to health in particular, these social media communications systems can also be considered to gain extended capabilities and impact when used atop and interacting with mobile devices and sensors. In this paper we introduce a framework to categorize and analyze the emerging types of health-related social media interactions and communications and consider how the techniques fit within this broader framework for healthcare applications of social media.