Active listening is good for you 

Private online communities not only help companies and health care providers mitigate risk, but they provide unbounded opportunity for continuous feedback, insight, and iteration. And they do so by offering real benefits to their members, as articulated by this patient: “I’ve considered my time with the community as a personal get-away that is somehow really private—nobody besides the community knows or understands much about it. So it’s like I get to say things about stuff I may never tell or share with others. It’s been a fantastic boost to my ego to be able to participate with a national brand—like they want to hear my opinion? Wow.”

And community participation may have a positive impact on compliance with and efficacy of a health regime. For example, in the community of early alli adopters, there was a positive correlation between participation and weight loss, with weight loss among those members participating at least once a week averaging 10 pounds more than the average for all community members.

Healthcare professionals also want just-in-time, credible information from peers and pharmaceutical companies. They want to have their complaints, ideas, and suggestions heard and respected. They are not averse to interacting with pharmaceutical and healthcare companies if they can do so on their schedule and their terms. And though prior Communispace research has shown that community tenure does not lead to more favorable responses to individual concepts or products, both formal research and anecdotal evidence suggest that the organic advocacy and the likelihood to recommend the sponsoring company in general are increased as a consequence of community membership.

But perhaps most compelling are the intangible but profound rewards of providing support to others. In the words of one community member, “Talking about and through the surgery really helped in the healing process, knowing that I can perhaps help someone else in their decision or fears, one way or the other, makes me feel as though I’m making a difference.”