The Desktop Doctor: Medical Rhetoric in the Emergent Online Context

Abstract

Online medical resources, most typified in the service WebMD, have become a common source of medical information for many consumers. This study used an online survey and content analysis of several popular online medical resources to determine users’ motivations for using these services, and differences between clinical and online medicine. Results indicated the high level of user choice present in these resources. Clinical medicine was found to have a larger influence on patient decisions than online medicine, despite high levels of online use. Results also highlighted these resources’ low level of direct user involvement, in contrast to their high level of user choice.