Sites internet santé : vecteurs de normes santé ou lieux de contestation ?

• Published in: Philosophia scientiae Vol. 12; no. 12-2; pp. 75 - 91
• Main Author: Quinche, Florence
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; German
• Published: Éditions Kimé 01.10.2008
• ISSN: 1281-2463; 1775-4283
• DOI: 10.4000/philosophiascientiae.107

In this paper, we investigate the nature of French web sites on health (for general public). Are they just scientific “popularization”. And if so, in which significance of the word? How does this media transform information seeking on health and medicine? This media allows new types of popularization, especially because the user can choose the level of difficulty he wants to deal with. In this process, he avoids the limitation of his access to information (content and form). But these sites have not only an informative role. They contest paternalism in medicine. In doing so, the forums change the notion of information on health : they produce a non vertical type of information, where patient’s experiences can be publicly expressed and discussed, and become a valuable type of information. This challenges the classical standard of medical speech about health, yet almost exclusively produced by health professionals or pharmaceutical industries.