The surgeon general warns…

Citation

Schwartz, D.G. (2008), "The surgeon general warns…", Internet Research, Vol. 18 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr.2008.17218eaa.001

The surgeon general warns…

Article Type: Editorial From: Internet Research, Volume 18, Issue 5

How dangerous is the Internet for your health? Or how helpful perhaps? Three articles in this issue of Internet Research are devoted to different aspects of the growing connection between the Internet and your health.

In “Cross-cultural comparison of interactivity and advertising appeals on antismoking web sites in the United States and South Korea”, Yu, Paek and Bae show us how different populations react to the different structure and messages presented on health-related web sites. While their focus is on the interactive nature of web sites across cultures, the choice of the antismoking context provides a fascinating backdrop given that Korea has one of the highest percentages of males 15 and over who smoke regularly, and the government-led antismoking initiative is less than a decade old.

Antismoking web sites represent but a wisp of online health resources. In a broader study of three online non-commercial health resources Fisher, Burstein, Lynch and Lazarenko present “Usability + usefulness = trust: an exploratory study of Australian health web sites”. They investigate the delicate relationship that supports trust, an element without which a health information site would quickly become comatose, and find that information quality alone is not nearly sufficient.

“The role of Internet addiction in online game loyalty” is the subject addressed by Lu and Wang. While past research has shown a clear positive linear relationship between satisfaction and loyalty in online behaviour, this study uncovers the prevalence of a non-intuitive addictive relationship in which lack of satisfaction still leads to increased loyalty.

The next two articles in this issue examine different aspects of influence in online communications. In “Evolving debates in online communication: a graph analytical approach”, Prabowo, Thelwall, Hellsten and Scharnhorst present a technique through which we may be able to observe the dynamic changes in evolving debates by analysing the use of connected terms in online discourse. Ko, Yin, and Kuo take us on a tour of the blogosphere in “Exploring individual communication power in the blogosphere” and show how the importance of opinion leaders is shifting from mass media to Internet.

Finally, Boateng, Heeks, Molla, and Hinson present “E-commerce and socio-economic development: conceptualizing the link”. In this study, focused on developing countries, the authors analyse the full relationship between electronic commerce and development. E-commerce does not only impact trade and business, but has a broader impact on human-centred development, alleviation of poverty, and of course improved health care, all of which need be considered in the formation of government and NGO policy. While some of the world is looking up what ails them online, a larger part of the world is still wondering when a doctor will next visit their village.

The next time you go to an authoritative web site and lookup those chest pains please remember; it could be your chest muscles, it could be your heart, or it could be you should just get offline and go see your doctor. Being online means you are probably lucky enough to have one.

David G. Schwartz