Can Facebook and social networks prevent epidemics?

Online networks help to contain infectious diseases

Who would have thought that the selfie from the last barbecue would help prevent or stem an epidemic. But a recent study suggests that data on online network users, such as Facebook, have the potential to stem the spread of infectious diseases. People with many social contacts in online networks also have more physical contact with humans, so they should give priority to vaccination.

In recent years, many strategies have been developed to combat epidemics. The two main methods are surveillance and vaccination. The goal of the surveillance is to predict an outbreak by observing a small subpopulation that poses an increased risk. The aim of vaccination is to minimize the susceptibility of a population. Past epidemics have already shown that schools, universities or hospitals play a significant role in major outbreaks, as many communities can exchange viruses and bacteria. The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, examines whether communication networks such as Facebook are able to provide meaningful information about the structure of contacts between individuals.

The user data in social networks like Facebook have the potential to identify high-risk groups that have an increased contagion potential during epidemics. (Image: Cybrain / fotolia.com)

Facebook data identifies groups with increased contagion potential

The first study of its kind deals with the gap between the digital and the physical world in order to exploit the data hidden in it. To this end, the physical and digital networks of 532 university students were studied. Over two years, data from Facebook friendships, Facebook activities, feeds, communication records, and Bluetooth scans were collected and evaluated. In particular, it was investigated whether an optimal vaccination strategy can be derived from the digital networks. This was previously only possible in the physical environment.

Amazing results

The evaluation showed that using online data from communication networks to identify high-risk groups can dramatically decrease the spread of short-range diseases, even if vaccine coverage is only about 20 percent. The digital communication data from the types modeled in the study allow early detection and containment of infectious outbreaks in densely networked populations, such as schools, universities, workplaces, and neighborhoods, the researchers report. The scientists suggest increased collaboration between healthcare stakeholders and social network operators and telecoms companies. (Fp)