The Flu & Social Networking

With the flu spreading rapidly throughout the country, different social media outlets are taking action in an effort to help people track the flu.  

At FluNearYou.org, individuals 13 years or older can register to take brief weekly surveys that will help the site’s administrators learn more about the flu and in return allows you to see flu activity in your area and around the country.  To learn more click here: https://flunearyou.org/

Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity.  The search engine tracks users searches based on flu-related topics and provides trending information from those results.  “By counting how often we see these search queries, we can estimate how much flu is circulating in different countries and regions around the world.”  You can check out the trends here: http://www.google.org/flutrends/

 

If that information isn’t specific enough, there is also a Facebook app called, “Help I have the flu” that can help Facebook users find out which of their friends may have given them the flu or who to avoid.  The app scans your friends’ statuses for words like “flu” and “coughing” and checking out the places in which they’ve checked in.  Definitely not an accurate way of determining whether you’ll get the flu but with the flu spreading rapidly, it may just help to have all the information you can get.