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Promoting health in virtual worlds: lessons from second life
Reima Suomi1, Matti Mäntymäki, Sari Söderlund
1Institute of Information Systems Science, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Turku School of Economics, Turku, Finland. reima.suomi@utu.fi.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
|October 15, 2014
Summary
Second Life offers limited health resources and user engagement, despite its virtual world potential for health empowerment. The platform struggles with discoverability and trustworthy information, providing little unique value for users seeking online health support.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Health Informatics
- Virtual Worlds in Healthcare
Background:
- Social media can empower individuals in managing their health.
- Virtual worlds like Second Life offer rich environments for Health 2.0 initiatives.
- Second Life has been utilized for health information exchange and professional advice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate Second Life's functionality as a platform for health empowerment.
- To assess the viability of virtual worlds for public health engagement.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing health-related activities within Second Life.
- Direct observation and interaction with health resources in the virtual environment.
Main Results:
- Only 24 operational health resources were identified, indicating limited health activity.
- Key limitations include low user activity, poor search functionality, and difficulty finding reliable information.
- Despite apparent rich content, actual health engagement is restricted.
Conclusions:
- Second Life provides minimal unique benefits over other online health resources for the average user.
- The platform's current state does not effectively support widespread health empowerment.
- Further development is needed to enhance usability and trustworthiness for health purposes.
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