Intersection of Health, Social Media, and Technology: How do College Students Obtain Health Information

Today's college students are using technology more than ever, particularly social media. This study examines what types of social media technology undergraduate college students are using, how they get health information, and explores the intersection of health and technology as it pertains to college students at a large southeastern university. Nine hundred and seventy-six college students completed a 26-item questionnaire that collected information on perceived health status, technology usage, how they obtained health information, and basic demographics. The survey participants included freshmen (n=153, 15.8%), sophomore (n=262, 27.1%), junior (n=279, 28.9%), and senior (n=262, 27.1%) undergraduate students. Results indicate that when seeking health information, a majority of students used: online search engines (e.g. Google) (n=889, 93.1%), family members (n=887, 92.6%), health websites (n=797, 84.1%), friends/peers (n=743, 78.5%) or a health care provider (physician or nurse) (n=743, 77.5%). Most respondents owned a cell phone capable of downloading mobile applications (n=710, 72.8%), and most respondents (n=940, 97.5%) had a profile on at least one social networking site. This study can benefit the college health practitioners and researchers in allowing a better understanding of how undergraduate college students are using technology and where they are getting their health information. Most notably, undergraduates have an enormous presence in social media. This presentation will describe practical recommendations on how the college health practitioner can disseminate health messages and information through social media applications.