Social media sites used by healthcare organisations
| Function | Description | Examples |
| Social network | ‘Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.’32 | Facebook, Myspace, Google Plus, Twitter, Snapchat |
| Professional network | Sites which provide the opportunity for professionals to participate in online communities, listen to experts and network and communicate with colleagues. | |
| Media sharing/Social network | Media-sharing sites offer a large selection of social media tools that are optimised for viewing, sharing and embedding digital media content on the web. They also include features such as profiles, connections, comments and private messaging.33 | YouTube, Tik Tok |
| Knowledge/information aggregation | A collaborative website that can be directly edited by anyone with access to the site.33 | Wikipedia |
| Content production—blogs and microblogs | Blogs are an open forum which provide the opportunity to publish large amounts of long-form information as well as video and audio material. Includes a comment function allowing for ongoing dialogue between the blogger and his or her audience.34 Microblogs are web services that allows subscribers to send short messages to other subscribers.33 | Tumblr, Blogger, Twitter |