Chris Paton*, Health Informatics Programme, Department of Information Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Track: Business Track Presentation Topic: Building virtual communities and social networking applications for health professionals Presentation Type: Oral presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: MaRS Centre Room: CR3 Date: 2008-09-05 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Last modified: 2008-11-06

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New Media Medicine hosts an online Social Network with over 40,000 registered members.

The network primarily caters for UK doctors, medical students and pre-med students applying for medical school. Features include a lively discussion forum with over 500,000 posts, and facilities for members to blog, upload photos and create social groups of friends.

This presentation describes the tools and techniques required for building a friendly and successful medical social networking community. In particular, we examine online community dynamics, moderation techniques and strategies for growth and sustainability.

The presentation discusses how a social network can be used as a basis for an international e-learning community through the use of user-generated content and online peer review and discussion.