Facebook Healthcare Services Coming Soon?
Most people in America are devoted Facebook users. The social media outlet is available on smartphones, computers, tablets, and even some wearable technology. Many websites are integrated with Facebook, allowing you to sign in to the site or share its content without even opening a Facebook tab in your browser. It’s become a one-stop shop for casual online identity verification, and it’s possible that Facebook will be moving into a new area: Healthcare. If this plan goes through, they’ll be competing with Apple and Google in yet another area.
As strange as it may seem to a casual Facebook user, it’s actually a logical next step for the company, all things considered. They’re an advertising outlet and, to a greater degree, a simple data collection firm. The current service tracks your conversations and interests to advertise more effectively. If you’ve been browsing the Internet for affordable health insurance, expect Facebook to soon become littered with sponsored posts and ads for cheap health insurance; soon, they may be implementing healthcare-related services.
The initiative, still in extremely early stages, was driven by the surprising success of Facebook’s “organ donor status initiative” launched in 2012, allowing Facebook users to identify themselves as organ donors. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Pricilla Chan, are also proponents of health care itself, indicated by a massive $5 million donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation the same year.
The healthcare service itself is in an early enough form that anything could change, but it’s certain that Facebook has been in meetings with “medical industry experts and entrepreneurs”, and may be launching an app soon, but it’s entirely possible that most users won’t even notice the service’s launch. An unnamed source informed Reuters that the app will be launched “quietly and under a different name”. Service features may include support communities for people with similar diseases and preventative care platforms to help people live healthier lives in a fun and social way. Facebook has a great track record, so it’s exciting to see how this service may develop with health insurance providers and medical facilities.
How do you feel about Facebook becoming even more involved in the lives of its users? Would you benefit from a support group or social media platform for healthy living? Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
