What does it take to build and Online Community?

Using Social Networking to Promote the

Physical Activity Guidelines

Ana Tellez, APTR eHealth & Policy Fellow

Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion (ODPHP)

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesAugust 13, 2009

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Trends and Statistics

Social Networking Sites &

Online Communities

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SNS Trends and Statistics

• One in three Americans have a profile on a Social Networking Site.

• 75% of online adults between ages 18 and 24 have a social network profile, as do 57% of wired adults between 25 and 34.

• Top 3 social media sites in 2008: Blogger (222 million

unique worldwide visitors), Facebook (200 million unique

worldwide visitors), and Myspace (126 million unique worldwide visitors).

First and Last Graph

Different social networks have a greater appeal for different age groups…

– MySpace –

– Facebook –

– Flickr –

– LinkedIn –

Characteristics of an Online Community

• They are continuous, not temporal - there is a core membership that interacts together over a long period of time.

• Communities gather around a concept or common goal.

• Communities take on various conversations and activities, led by different members over time.

• People within communities get to know each other and interact regularly without centralized facilitation.

• Community leaders emerge over time

Examples of Professional Online Communities

Jewelers & Consumers

IT professionals

Education & Training Professionals

Nancy White, in Online Communities

“Because of the socially constructed nature of learning, communities of practice go far beyond mere information exchange. Members take risks to share both their knowledge and challenges. Reputation places a person in either the core or periphery of a group. Social capital is the currency. Trust, identity and the influence of leadership all affect a learning community.” (White, 2003)

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Reflections

Be Active Your Way Online Community

Our Vision

Providing a virtual space for our Supporter Network to:

• Network (across geographic regions and interests)

• Share information (best practices, lessons learned)

• Collaborate (leverage resources)

• Innovate (develop new promotion strategies)

• Obtain news and information from across the federal government on physical activity

Our (iterative) Process

• Develop functionality requirements

• Conduct user-testing (2 rounds)

• Conduct a pilot with a cohort of established contacts

• Develop some more!

Functionality = Features

Planned

• Individual (and searchable) profiles

• Library of resources (for and by users)

• Blogs (for and by users)

• Message boards

• Wiki

• Calendar of events

Identified after pilot

• Inmail – private messages between members

• More multimedia

Taking a Peek at our Pilot

Taking a Peek at the Profiles

Lessons Learned

• Need to invest a LOT of time early on– Usability / features just right– Purpose / content drivers

• Users have certain expectations of Social Networking Site features– Features– Privacy options– Multiple points of access

• Content and context management is key

Great Potential

• Opportunity to engage stakeholders in an ongoing basis and on a more personalized basis

• Opportunity to institutionalize Guidelines in messaging across a wide range of organizations

• Opportunity to centrally disseminate federal resources about physical activity

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Other Social Media Tools

E-cards and a widget too

Healthfinder e-cards

Healthfinder e-cards

Healthfinder e-cards

Healthfinder e-cards

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Thank you

Ana.Tellez@hhs.gov

Be Active Your Way!