The Psychology of the Internet
The Psychology of the Internet
Knowledge-sharing and influence in online social networks via viral marketing
Communications of the ACM - Mobile computing opportunities and challenges
Toward wellness: women seeking health information
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology - Part I: Information seeking research
The dynamics of viral marketing
ACM Transactions on the Web (TWEB)
The convergence of social and technological networks
Communications of the ACM - Remembering Jim Gray
Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL: Insights from a Connected World
Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL: Insights from a Connected World
Happier together: integrating a wellness application into a social network site
PERSUASIVE'10 Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Persuasive Technology
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Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace offer new ways of encouraging healthy behavior by leveraging existing social relationships, particularly among young adults. However, spreading information through social networks can be sensitive and problematic when the content relates to stigmatized illnesses. This paper proposes a novel strategy, Veiled Viral Marketing, which uses social networking sites to anonymously disseminate information about stigmatized illnesses to social networking friends. We describe the successes and failures of this approach based on an empirical study of a prototype Facebook App called FactCheck: HPV which was downloaded by over 1,022 users. We find interest in sending "veiled" invitations, though not as much interest as sending invitations from a known friend (1:2 ratio). However, we find that users are 5 times more likely to download the app if invited from a "veiled" friend compared to a known friend. We conclude with design suggestions related to Veiled Viral Marketing and dissemination of information on stigmatized illnesses more generally.