Data Mining in the Deep, Dark Social Networks of Patients Advice for Pharma: Caveat Emptor
Many pharmaceutical companies are actively monitoring discussions on patient social networks to find negative comments about their products and/or research the issues of importance to patients who suffer from the medical conditions their medicines are designed to treat.
Many of the most important patient communities such as PatientsLikeUs (PLM), however, are “closed,” members-only communities that have rules restricting data mining by third parties. These communities are “dark,” meaning that search engine spiders are also not allowed to index the content.
If pharma marketers wish to tap into this rich source of information, they need to pay careful attention to the rules lest they suffer the consequences to their reputations.
This article takes a look at the issues involved in data mining the deep, dark and closed patient communities on the internet.
Topics include:
- The Dark Depths of “Closed” Patient Communities
- Patient Information for Sale
- Pharma Trolls Social Media
- Transparency, Openness and Privacy
- Beware of Stolen “Copper”
- The ePatient Perspective
- What Are Your Social Media Principles?
- Aligning Your Message with Patient Needs
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PMN95-03
Issue: Vol. 9, No. 5: May 2010
Word Count: 3548
Also see these related articles, podcasts:
- Moderation Best Practices for Pharma Social Networks (Article)
- Social Media Pharma Marketing (collection)
- How To Measure Social Network Communications Success (podcast)
- CureTogether: A Social Network for Patients to Share Symptoms and Solutions to Improve Thier Health (podcast)
- UCB & PatientsLikeMe: Embracing Social Media, Adverse Events Included! (podcast)
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