Facebook Wades into Health Care Industry

Facebook already knows a ton about you and your personal life.   Now, it might know about your physical and mental status.

Now, Facebook might be dabbling into the medical field. Officials close to the project source say the world's largest social media is working to create online "support communities" that would bring together people suffering from various ailments.

A team is also working on what they are calling "preventative care" applications that would also be on the social network. These would reportedly help people live healthier lives.

Facebook was encouraged to wander into the arena due to the unexpected success sof it's 2012 organ-donor status initiative, which resulted in over 13,000 people signing up be organ donors. That compared with the national average of about 616 signups per day.

However, critics say people who would be sharing sensitive medical information online in these support communities could fall prey to information sharing. In the past, Facebook has been criticized with how it handled and shared members information.   Critics say the last thing people need is to have their personal medical details potentially compromised or scattered all over the web.

According to Yahoo.com:

"Privacy, an area where the company has faced considerable criticism over the years, will likely prove a challenge. This week, the company apologized to users for manipulating news feeds for the purposes of research.

But Facebook may already have a few ideas to alleviate privacy concerns around its health initiatives. The company is considering rolling out its first health application quietly and under a different name, a source said. Market research commissioned by Facebook found that many of its users were unaware that photo-service Instagram is Facebook-owned, the source said."