Ryan over at the Brewing Culture blog, wrote some thoughts on a
recent news item regarding the amount of media that will be user generated in 5
years. With the pace of websites like YouTube and Myspace creating online
celebrities, it sort of makes sense!

Here’s a thought along those lines:

1. Not too long ago, the people in control of media and what we saw, heard and
   read, were sitting high and pretty because they were the ones producing all the
   content.
   
2. Today, the consumer is now creating content that people can see, hear and
   read all over the world. User-generated content is quickly becoming an important
   part of all entertainment and media.
   
3. Public health/health education aims to prevent disease and encourage the
   ongoing health and well being of all (stay with me now…)
   
4. Physicians and hospitals are the people in control of treating illness and
   curing disease. When you are sick and suffering, the patient heads to the
   hospital to be (more or less) cured - because, they have the answer to why you
   are feeling the way you do.
   
5. Today, the consumer is able to visit websites such as WebMD, to gain knowledge on a
   condition or disease. There are also blogs popping up on the radar that address
   health concerns such as DiabetesMine, The Health Wisdom Blog, and one of my new favorites The Health 2.0 blog.
   



How is this all connected you ask? Well, we are living in a time where the
traditional “head honchos” are no longer completely running the show. And I’m
not exactly pumping my fist in the air and screaming how much we should fight
the power, I’m just realizing that there is potential in the public health and
health education sphere for spreading knowledge on living well and increasing
healthy behaviors. Now more than ever, we can begin to stop complaining when we
think to ourselves “shouldn’t they know better?” I plan on doing something about
it.