Complex Network and Data Science Assignment Solution

Introduction

The on-going mental health problems and diseases are widely spread among the people. The use of internet among these mental health problems curation is a common use and nowadays, people rely on getting cure on internet using search engines and social networking sites such as health forums rather than seeking information from a professional [16]. This trends of finding solution on the internet is mostly common with young adults and young generations as they are reluctant to share information with a consultant unless necessary or have no other option. Through this demanding search and seeking information on the internet, many health institutes has taken this opportunity and published many articles they help them to diagnose the symptoms they are facing as well as cure for the identified disease. This includes not only mental health but also physical diseases. Through this information, many people were able to diagnose the problem on their own and were able to cure the disease that was rectified via common and methods that do not contain any side effects. This also helped them in reducing cost of many tests and diagnostic procedure appointment and doctor fees which helped them to save time and cost [17].

With the more advancement and search demand, today many people can access this information via mobile phone in their hand while going towards their work, home or while they are travelling such as on trains. The problem arises as most of the instructions and diagnostics methods shared through these articles and in social networking sites, are generic and does not apply to everyone. Moreover, these information can be shared by an unprofessional person who have access through internet or maybe running his/her page or blog and lastly even if these information are shared by a professional, some people may believe that they have caught a disease that is only true in their sub-conscious in which they mentally believe that they have such problem but in reality they have only minor problem which can be cured by itself over a course of time. Lastly, another problem is that such procedure and information that is shared through social networking site can mislead to wrong disease and wrong treatment that can further mislead professional who may be treating the person as a patient in future [19].

In order to resolve the above-mentioned problem, it is required to understand the requirements of health communities in social networking sites as well as the information they share and how it is used by an individual. This creates an opportunity for further research by examining and understanding these complex system using data science approach we can introduce methods and procedures of validating the information and how we can eliminate misleading information and only diagnose problems that an individual has. This understanding is important for other researchers as it will help them lead to a conclusion of their research and indicate a direction to resolve many problems and sub-problems that may appear in future or are currently presented as above.

There have been many researches carried out to understand behaviour of an individual accessing this information and how this information are gathered and shared. However, researches are only focus on a specific area such as young adult or use of social networking sites. There have been very few researches has been done in understanding the behaviour and evolution of these social networking sites hence, the opportunities of understanding these evolutions and resolving problem through data science approach is vital to be addressed [16].

Literature Review (Research Project Background and Objectives)

Social Networking Site (SNS) is a platform where anyone can share his/her idea to the world without the restriction of ideas and thoughts of what they want to know share however, it should be within the policies of the organization and within the ethics of the society. Today, internet has developed and evolve into a massive source of information where information can be gained and shared through personal computer or handheld computers such as mobile phone. The information shared on SNS are within the interest of the group and that can be for entertainment, knowledge or simple & complex questions and answers [16]. The aim of these SNS is to increase and ease communication between two individuals and the organization and share knowledge and services among the group of people. The following is the summary of basic use of social networking sites today [20]:

Querying group of similar concerns for the problems they are facing to get answered by an experienced person.

Making friends and connecting with family.

Sharing their life and event with the group of friends, colleagues and families.

Joining group where they can share and contribute their ideas.

Not for profit organization running campaign in SNS, providing useful information.

Buying and selling of services and products.

SNS is now mainly socialising and providing solutions to problems where people who are facing similar problems can search them and try to diagnose the problem on their own without paying a professional to diagnose and correct it. This provides an opportunity for an individual to self-reliably perform the correction giving them self-satisfaction and most accurate results along with cost saving solutions that will help not only themselves but also their friends and families through passing on information. One of the most major concern with finding solutions on these SNS are health and health care problems. There are vast number of symptoms in the body that can lead number of diseases has increased the depression and anxiety among the new and old generation. Today, many people search in the internet against the symptoms they are facing and trying to find solutions online without the need to seek professional help. These queries are usually done on YouTube, Quora, medical advice pages and forums. Once all or most of the symptoms are matched, the seeker tries to find the remedies and steps to take to mitigate the problem [16].

The Use of SNS to Seek Health Advice

As mentioned earlier, the use of SNS has provided a platform to seek medical advices and solutions among the users and this provides an opportunity to self-educate among various common problems and curation of such problem. The seeking medical advice via social media is very common among young adult and new generation [16]. As old and mature adults are used to seeking professional health check-up and advices from their preferred doctor and health consultant, young generation likes to keep the problem private and are more addicted to find the solution on internet rather than meeting a professional in phone or in person who can provide information and guidelines tailored to his/her needs. This practice is widely common and today over millions of articles are present for the same health problem or different problems which is accessible to the public. Moreover, many healthcare institutions have published their own social media campaign and profile which is followed by million of people who can contact them if they need any problem’s solution. The articles they publish about diagnostic and disease information and which type of doctor to seek advice are general and currently helping millions of users online who are reading or following them [18].

Technology is one of the most reformative technology and it is being used for different aspects. One of those aspects being illness and the technology is not just used for curing the disease but are also being leveraged to control, counter and face the illness more positively. According to Nickels and Dimov (2012), the use of mobile technology as a reminder for controlled medication through pop-ups SMS reminder or others are crucial and are adding value to the adolescence asthmatic population. The use of the social media services through health support groups still needed improvement and deemed attention before it can be leveraged for the disease in discussion. On the contrary, Moorhead et al. (2013), the social media sites health support entity are crucial and offers major advantage to the information seekers. The primary benefits includes increased interaction, tailored information, accessibility, social & emotional support, public health surveillance and others. Though it also emphasis on the issues and primarily on the quality of information along with confidentiality, reliability, security and privacy of individual as well as their information. Stewart et al. (2011) have detailed that the children faces frustration because of the limitations that they suffer because of the asthma in their regular lives. The parents believe that the support from health support groups would offer the children to increase their moral. Furthermore, the social media health support groups would be more ease and efficiency as it will provide the children to gain access to more individuals whom they can idolize with far greater capabilities on a global scale.

Roffeei, Abdullah and Basar (2015), in their paper have discussed over the ASD that is Autism Spectrum Disorder. The discussed disorder is one of the most common and crucial disorder that can be identified in different individuals around the globe. The discussed disorder is a developmental disorder that offers severity of different variations, which are characterized by challenges in communication and social interactions as well as repetitive or restricted pattern of behaviour ort thoughts. The discussed medical condition is one of the most complex as no proper remedial measure have been identified for it. However, one of things that have been established for the discussed disorder is that the emotional support for the patients of the discussed disorder can help them to lead a life that can be considered as good [13]. One of the ways to attain emotional support for the people with the discussed medical condition is the social networking sites. The reason for the aforementioned fact can be justified by the fact that the emotional support comes from social interaction and communication, which the discussed people lacks but can be attained through social media. The above-stated statement can be further justified by the fact that it is not necessary to get in direct interaction with other individuals directly on social media and non-verbal approaches such as messages can be adopted to attain the objective [15]. However, another aspect that needs to be taken in consideration is that another support dimension is more important to the people suffering from ASD. The discussed dimension is informational support, which the people suffering from ASD seeks more prominently than emotional support [12]. The need for tangible support for the discussed individual is very low and can be avoided. Hence, in summary, it would be adequate to state that the social media platforms can prove to be a very crucial platform for the people suffering from ASD as they do not have to engage in verbal communication for the purpose of interaction.

Zhang and Sang (2013), in their paper have emphasised on the benefits that health groups on SNS can offer to the diabetics. It was identified that the diabetics patients were comfortable using the health group on SNS as they had no language barrier to tackle furthermore, the structuring of the community building, emotions and information in the interactions made it more effective. Valkenburg, Peter and Schouten (2006), have further stated that the FNSs helps in improving the self-esteem and the well-being of the adolescence because of the different individuals with different level of skillsets and common interests. The common interests can be identified using the groups based on that interest. Adding to the discussion Gold et al. (2011), have further stated that the most suitable platform for the promotion of the sexual health is the SNS because of the high share percentage of the youth on the platform. Furthermore, the platforms with more posts and other activities tend to have more health promotion groups, which was made evident using the example of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Capurro et al. (2014), have also added to the literature discussing the relation between SNS and health. The authors in their article have emphasised on the public health and have recommended that different entities can leverage SNS groups for promoting health services through proper attention towards communication, research and surveillance [14]. Therefore, from the discussions in the articles being discussed above, it would be justified to state that the benefits offered by the health groups on the SNS platforms are not limited to chronic disease but further extends to different dimensions such as increasing self-esteem, public health, sexual awareness and others.

Health behaviour

The health habits of the humans are one of the most crucial aspects that define the way forward for the humans and hence, it is of great importance that a sound health behaviour is maintained. Different researches and studies are being conducted in order to obtain ways to ensure a positive change in the health behaviour. One of the sections of the scholars and researchers were dedicated towards determining the impact of the social networking sites on the health behaviour of the individuals. Laranjo et al. (2014) aimed at assessing those research papers and it was identified that the SNS have a positive impact on the health behaviour of the individuals. The smoking cessation, healthy lifestyle and other major dimensions were taken in considerations and the outcome were positive. The reason for the positive outcome can be relayed to the social pressure of living a healthy lifestyle that helped changed the health behaviour. Another aspect that is capable of changing the health behaviour of the individuals were the information obtained from the social networking sites regarding the importance of healthy lifestyle [11]. The chance to follow the role models along with others were also some of the most prominent reasons that helped in changing the health behaviour of the individuals and needs to be taken in consideration. One of the most crucial findings from the review of the literature review is that the aforementioned measures are not the only measures for promoting health habits through SNS. Marketing ads, promotional campaigns and other measures can also be adopted by different NGOs and Governmental organizations for promotions of the habits [10]. Facebook is one of the most effective and affordable platforms for the promotions of the smoking cessation ads. The interest of young adults on the social networking sites and huge time spend by them on the platforms being discussed is one of the primary reasons for the stated facts [11]. Hence, to summarise the discussion, it would be adequate to state that the SNS are capable of changing the health behaviour of an individual positively and needs to be given proper attention.

The summary of different articles in the above paragraphs have established that the health groups on the social networking sites are viable and crucial for different diseases, however, their reach can be further extended. The emotional, informational, tangible and esteem health of the social media users can be improved through health groups [8]. The authors in their research have also identified that the most prominently emotional support is the dimension that is most prominent on the SNS, especially Facebook. The need for health information is also prominent on the health groups in SNS and one of the interesting facts obtained from it is that the self-information added value to the self-efficacy positively. The discussed finding implies on the fact that the extend of the health groups on SNS is not limited to chronic disease or public health but can be extended to the emotional, tangible and other dimensions as well.

Advantages of Seeking Health Advice on SNS

Users and internet surfer find this information useful as it contains many advantages, and one of the most important of them being, provides information on the go, that are useful to rectify the disease and provide guidelines for the curation process. It helps in save cost and time that would had consumed when meeting the professional to seek consultancy. This also helps in not getting into scams such as some healthcare institution recommends tests that are not necessary for the diagnostics. This practice is very common in developing countries.

In general, the information shared by the healthcare institution helps a lot of people in fixing the problem themselves and provide more information about the disease that may occur, occur again or occur to their friends and families [17].

Disadvantages of Seeking Health Advice on SNS

Although the benefits are enormous, there are also drawbacks of seeking medical advices on the internet. These drawbacks can turn dangerous depending on the type of information has provided and severity of the disease. It helps in rectifying wrong disease/problem based on symptoms were matched that will mislead to wrong solution and/or consultant. Information shared is not from an experience person and may contain wrong information. Cure method provided may not correct for the patient because of the allergies and previous treatments such as patients who are suffering from diabetics [17].

Major Issues of SNS in Healthcare Industry

Healthcare industry in SNS has many issues in providing the information, there are people and other diseases that may be affecting the treatment itself. Since everything is not disclose by the patient like he/she would do in front of a consultant, the information is general and may be for certain type of patient such as those who are suffering from asthma or diabetics. In more general, if this information misleads with such missing information it can make the situation even worse that can cause death [21]. Social networking sites are one of the most prominent needs of the current era and have witnessed major inflow of users because of several reasons such as social credibility, interactions, savouring, health needs, information needs and others. It have led to the huge inflow of data on the discussed SNS. Moreover, the data in discussion is not limited to the company but is shared with third parties or other users [9]. The discussed inflow of data and the availability of data to the SNS and third parties are leading to privacy violations. According to Thompson et al. (2011), the data shared in the groups are more exposed to threat as the group may contain individuals that can potential misuse of the data, in the process developing ethical and legal issues. The

reason for the aforementioned statement can be further justified by the fact that the data shared on the profile can only be accessed by the ones allowed by the user. However, no such restrictions are associated with the groups [2]. The discussed threat is prominent for the health groups as well. The members of the health groups can misuse the medical data of the other members for fulfilling their personal agenda without the consent of the data owner developing legal issues. Furthermore, the data privacy violation can have strong emotional impact on the data owner, who have a medical condition and have joined a SNS health group for emotional support. The self-efficacy and self-esteem of the individual will also be effected developing ethical issues [9]. Hence, to summarise the discussion, it would be adequate to state that the privacy violations in the health groups are major concern and proper attention should be offered to it, in order to support the people with medical condition, who are looking for emotional, informational, or tangible or esteem support on the SNS through health groups.

Importance of Examining the Evaluation SNS in Health Industry

Heathcare advises on the internet and through SNS have gained popularity since the internet in home and offices. In order to resolve this major issue, it is important to examine and study the evolution of SNS in healthcare industry as it will help us to understand how people are browsing internet to seek medical advise and it will help the healthcare blogs to tailored the information based on people’s need. Through the time, the popularity of this seeking medical advice has increased which has generated big data of random and targeted searches. We can also study the behaviour and type of disease that are searched by single person as well as how helpful was the information [20].

Data Science Approach

SNS has become a tool to collect information that are required to understand the user requirement, advertising strategies and product feedbacks. Through the searches in the social media we can identify what are the problems most common diseases present and searched widely, which country have commonly known disease: since the symptoms of two diseases can be same but are true in separate countries. If the healthcare advisor or blogger know for which country, they are writing they can be tailored. Which diseases were searched by the same person so that system would know what other problems the patient has? and may avoid search results that may increase the problem. It will help the healthcare institution to further tailored their posts that are specific to the targeted audiences [16].