Computers, smartphones used for different health searches

Health and Science reporter Carolyn Beeler came across this article in the Washington Post detailing the popularity of health resources on the Internet.

While health information remains one of the top Internet resources, the Pew Internet Project has found differences in queries based on the device used for searching.

Smartphone users searching for health help most frequently searched for ‘pregnancy,’ ‘herpes,’ and ‘STDs.’ But those search terms were not nearly as common in users surfing the web on computers.

The study, released yesterday, suggests it’s all thanks to the new digital divide. Populations like African Americans, Latinos, disabled adults, people over 65 and those earning less than $30,000 a year are less likely to have access to a computer.

Smartphones, however, are far easier to come by. So while fewer than half the population of the aforementioned groups use computers for health information, more and more are turning to their smartphones for help.