The Conversation: Social Media Helps Officials Spot Public Health Threats -- But Only for the Rich?
By Elaine Nsoesie
Think of the last time you had food poisoning. Did you tweet about it? Did you Google your symptoms? Or did you write an angry review on Yelp?
Every day, people use the internet to seek and share health information. This opens up exciting new ways for scientists to study the health of a population, an approach known as digital epidemiology.