An overview of the role of social network sites in the treatment of adolescent diabetes.

Of all the forms of social media, social network sites (SNS) have seen the fastest and broadest uptake, and their role within health care is only starting to be explored. SNS in clinical practice have the potential to provide education and support without the costs and constraints of more conventional treatment approaches. However, in order to effectively utilize SNS, it is important to use the SNS most frequented by adolescents. Despite the increase in the use of SNS in diabetes management, there are very few empirical studies on their efficacy, and the few that have been conducted have been inconclusive or had methodological limitations. Future research needs to be directed toward the impact of SNS on standard objective outcome measures and the comparison of SNS with conventional treatment approaches.