Facebook for health: opportunities and challenges for driving behavior change.

ABSTRACTObesity, mood, and associated behaviors spread within social networks [1]. Facebook, the primary representation of these networks, shapes our perceptions of social norms and the expectations we set for ourselves. As such, Facebook holds potential to influence health behaviors of individuals and improve public health. This panel explores that potential from a variety of perspectives including psychology, public health, privacy, and design innovation. Panelists include: Margie Morris and Sunny Consolvo, researchers at Intel who have created novel mobile health and Facebook applications; Sean Munson, a social computing researcher at University of Michigan; Kevin Patrick, of UCSD, who is investigating social media for preventing and reducing weight gain in young adults; and Janice Tsai, from Microsoft, who focuses on privacy implications of Facebook. This panel will identify opportunities for health interventions on Facebook to have a broad social impact, challenges to implementing effective interventions on this dynamic platform, appropriate research methods, and considerations related to privacy and ethics.