Time to toughen up, you illness addicts.

In this week’s reading, Lewis (2006, 522-525) explores the development of online health information, advice and even live diagnosis for illness. Kyla Bridge took it a step further and admits, or rather boasts that she looks online for medical advice, takes it to heart but would never make any serious decisions without consulting a doctor in the flesh.

This is the problem with online medical advice! Any slight ailment has a cure. A cough, runny nose, paper-cut and bruise can be researched, diagnosed and medication prescribed. Sure the medicine may fix the problem fast but ultimately you will be worse. The human body is a fighter. It is made to fight sickness and recover from illness and injury. A couple of days in bed while we shake off the swine flu/bird flu/mad cow disease will mean next time the latest “super-virus” comes around your immune system is on its toes in the red corner ready to swing the knock-out blow.

Popping pills at every sniffle makes you a target for disease as the immune system has become the kid at high-school whose mummy still tucks him into bed every night. The doctors’ surgery being slightly out of reach is a health benefit as the inconvenience of getting there; waiting for hours and answering potentially embarrassing questions is enough of a turn-off for most to stay in bed and tough it out. Stay away from the people online pretending to be doctors, drink a glass of water and go outside to the sun and fresh air rather than adhering to their advice. Researching diseases causes illness, rather than stopping them. 

Trust me, I’m a doctor.

Reference List

Lewis, Tania. 2006. “Seeking health information on the internet: Lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria?” Media, culture & society, 28 (4): 521-539. Accessed April 11, 2011. 

Bridge, Kyla. 2011. "Hi Everybody - Hi Dr Nick!" New Media Blog April 11. Accessed April 11, 2011 from: http://kyla-newmediablog.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-weeks-topic-has-so-far-been-my.html

Connecting People

How the mobile telephone has evolved (Bell, 2006). Originally the size of a briefcase and used only for calls, the mobile has rapidly evolved; first to allow texting which was soon followed by small applications and games, internet access and email. The current crop of smart phones can do just about everything – and I love it.

My iPhone is not simply for telecommunications. I pay $79 a month to a little company called Optus to make my life easier. Internet access and $1.19 games make my daily commute bearable, Facebook and Twitter applications allow me to keep up to date with what is going on in my various circles, I am informed when I receive an email and then there’s the built-in utilities: Calculator, Weather, Notes and Maps.

Amongst friends, I have jokingly renamed the iPhone a Soul, and whilst this is a self depreciating backhander aimed at my reliance on the mini-computer that’s housed in my left pocket, I am ashamedly lost without it.  People may criticise Gen-Y’s anti-social use of the portable technology but I’m sorry, times have changed old man. If I hear “stop that texting nonsense, you should pick up the phone and call them” one more time I will scream (or tweet my frustration). The mobile is no longer a phone – it’s a way of life.

Reference List

Bell, G. (2006). The Age of the Thumb: a Cultural Reading of Mobile Technologies from AsiaKnowledge, Technology, & Policy, 19 (2), 41-57.