News

The current peanut butter recall has raised red flags as to the usefulness and timeliness of our current reporting systems. Government agencies and private companies are working together together to seek faster reporting of incidents but if you ask the average consumer "Did you know you can report an incident on line through the FDA or any other agency", the response is typically "No".  Thus, a need for direct consumer education is clearly evident and the use of new social media tools to educate consumers is available now and at a fraction of the fees associated with traditional marketing tactics. The FDA is on YouTube and Twitter, however, a targeted effort is needed to educate consumers that these tools are available. What are we waiting for......the next public health issue. Let's work together to bring the most advanced tracking tools to the forfront of our government, food, pharm and consumer goods industries.

In an article today in the Boston Globe called "Hurry up, the customer has a complaint", author Carolyn Johnson cites several examples of consumers complaining quite publicly about products and services in their blogs and other social media options like Twitter.

"We're in a world where one person, by their actions, can make a
company look bad, and it can get echoed and amplified over and over
again," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research
and coauthor of "Groundswell," a book about business and social
technologies. "The power has shifted, [so] that big companies now have
to be worried about one individual with a microphone called a blog."

According to recent surveys by the Pew Internet Trust, 60 - 80 percent of Americans have used the Internet to find health information; and as of January 2008, the Internet rivaled physicians as the leading source for health information. In fact, iCrossing's "How America Searches: Health and Wellness" January 2008 report states:

Internet is the most widely used resource for health information: 59% of adults use online resources to obtain health and wellness information, versus 55% who go to their doctors and 29% who talk to relatives, friends or co-workers

I'm pleased to be serving as the online strategist for Academic Network (ANW for short), and am currently in Boston attending the Drug Information Association (DIA) show with a few ANW folks. ANW just announced our Health 2.0 initiative, helping pharma, food and other clients negotiate the changing world of communications online safely and securely.

I've been attending shows for years, and this one is one of the bigger conventions I've attended. My background is in technology, so I feel very much at home in a conference with software and other infrastructure suppliers are speaking in TLA's (three letter acronyms) and speaking in a pretty technical language. Lucky for me!