CancerSupportNet.com hopes to translate the collaborative power of real world support groups onto the Internet.
Social Sciences Net, a social media startup focused on health care, launched the targeted social network Wednesday.
After the loss of a close friend and former business partner to testicular cancer, Jack Brandt, Social Sciences Net founder and president, wanted to create a place for cancer patients, survivors, and their friends and family to collaborate and research treatment options.
“You’ve already gone to WebMD…now you want to ask someone, ‘what’s it really going to feel like when I go to chemo...’ I don’t think you can get that with MySpace or Facebook,” said Mr. Brandt.
Akin to other social networks, the cancer-focused site hopes to connect people in similar situations through profiles, chat rooms, email, instant messaging, friend lists, and blogging. A recently diagnosed cancer patient can search for other people living in their area with the same type of cancer and then “shoot them an email with a couple of silly questions,” said Mr. Brandt. This can lead them to chat and connect as friends online, and “the network builds virally from there.”
The Montclair, New Jersey-based startup is not alone in trying to bring the benefit of support groups online. The American Cancer Society Cancer Survivors Network, My Cancer Place, CancerMatch, and Not Defeated are among the other social networking and health information sites aimed at those dealing with cancer. Startups such as Redpoint Ventures-backed DailyStrength, which hosts more than 500 support groups, CarePages, and PatientsLikeMe take a broader approach by offering community features under multiple categories, including HIV/AIDS and depression.
Although the basic human need for connection predates the Internet, patients are no longer limited to their geographical location, noted Susannah Fox, a researcher with the Pew Internet Project. “You might be the one person in town with a certain rare form of cancer, but online you can connect with 50 other people and make sure that you are all up on the latest research,” she said.
According to a 2006 Pew Internet Project report, “eighty percent of American Internet users, or some 113 million adults, have searched for information on at least one of seventeen health topics.”
“Health care doesn’t always happen during office hours,” said Ms. Fox.
Analysts anticipate that health-focused social networking sites will continue to grow.
As Gen X and Gen Y move into care-giving for the boomer generation, and as they face more personal health issues themselves, they are likely to turn to these sites for advice and support, said Forrester Research analyst Chloe Stromberg.
In addition to providing a benefit to the greater community, there is money to be made here.
“If these sites are successful in providing social support, people feel gratitude and loyalty,” said Ms. Stromberg. Advertisers have an opportunity here to transform that gratitude to their advantage. This could be particularly attractive to pharmaceutical companies that often struggle with consumer trust issues, she said.
Currently ad-supported, Mr. Brandt plans to bring in additional revenue with local search features, such as an oncologist database. Oncologists could then add detail to their business profiles for a small fee.
Social Sciences Net is currently funded by Mr. Brandt’s “back pocket,” but he plans to seek venture capital or angel investors after proving the business model.
The startup plans to launch similar sites related to diabetes, asthma, depression, and HIV/AIDS in the months to come.