Social Media

The internet gives citizens new paths to government services and information.

Highlights from some of the key presentations made at a National Institutes of Health workshop held in November 2009.

Lee Rainie will discuss the latest research findings on people's use of social media and how technology has affected some of the ways people learn, make decisions, and offer social supports to others.

Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, discusses how technology is helping "networked individuals" reshape their relationship to media, to information, and to each other.

Information permeates all aspects of our lives and this changes people's behaviors and expectations.

How the internet and cell phones have changed the way that people relate to organizations and participate in communities.

What does the internationalization of information mean for patients and health professionals? What are the strengths - and weaknesses - of online patient communities?

People living with chronic disease are disproportionately offline. And yet, those who are online have a trump card: They have each other. They gather and share information; they learn from their peers; and they just keep going.

Senior research staff answer questions from readers relating to all the areas covered by our seven projects, ranging from polling techniques and findings, to media, technology, religious, demographic and global attitudes trends.

This panel discusses the opportunities and challenges presented by technology for STD prevention. Amanda presents Pew Internet's latest data on the use of technology by teens and young adults for communicating, socializing and information gathering.