Happier Together: Integrating a Wellness Application into a Social Network Site

A case study of deploying the Three Good Things positive psychology exercise as a Facebook application shows that embedding a wellness intervention in an existing social website is a viable option, and adherence rates are on par with or better than many other Internet-based wellness interventions.

Abstract

What are the benefits and drawbacks of integrating health and wellness interventions into existing online social network websites? In this paper, we report on a case study of deploying the Three Good Things positive psychology exercise as a Facebook application. Our experience shows that embedding a wellness intervention in an existing social website is a viable option. In particular, we find adherence rates on par with or better than many other Internet-based wellness interventions. We also gained insights about users' privacy and audience concerns that inform the design of social network-based wellness applications. Participants did not want all of their entries to be shared with all their Facebook friends, both because they did not want others to know some things and because they did not want to clutter others' newsfeeds. Users found it compelling, however, to interact with their friends around some "Good Things" they had posted.