Did you hear the one about the doctor? Using Facebook to eavesdrop on the collective conversation of current societal issues
Researchers studied jokes made about doctors posted on Facebook in a new review that demonstrates the potential of using social networking sites for research on health and medicine. "Social networking sites, such as Facebook, have become immensely popular in recent years and present a unique opportunity for researchers to eavesdrop on the collective conversation of current societal issues," said the lead author. Results showed that jokes in which the doctor (or the healthcare system) was the butt of the joke tended to be more successful, although the association was not statistically significant. Interestingly, the joke in the study that received the greatest number of Facebook likes was a "doctor, lawyer, priest joke" in which the lawyer was the butt of the joke.