Audience Analysis Memo: WebMD and National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Audience Analysis Memo To start with, this is audience analysis memo in which I chose to compare WebMD and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to one another. Although they both present information on the same overall subject, they are aimed at different primary audiences. According to their website, WebMD is “an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being”, while NIH describes itself to be “the largest biomedical research agency in the world”. Immediately after looking into their “About” sections, I felt both websites set their individual tones for what could be expected from their information.

WebMD

WebMD’s biggest focus is on creating an online organization that they believe will fill the promise of health information on the Internet. In addition, WebMD’s website states that they strive to “give users a variety of ways to find what they are looking for”. The website goes on to say that the following list shows, in order of importance, what their full-time staff professionals should have expertise in:

• Health news for the public
• Communities
• User experience/interactive tools

Their main audience is truly everyone that has access to the Internet, no matter their age, gender, education level, occupation or cultural background. WebMD wants to make sure they fulfill every possible need their users may have. Whether it pertains to community support or health issues, the site attempts to address each and every one. I found that they use very informal message boards to engage and communicate with their audience, in ways similar to posts on social media. They did not contain much, if any, technical language in their articles. However, what I found most interesting was that WebMD seems to simply be a basic health services website/blog that aims to push their readers towards products that are sold by the site’s sponsors. There was nothing more than a picture and, on average, 10-12 paragraphs in each article (based on 14 articles randomly selected). Overall, although WebMD does provide credible information and desires to be the main source on health information on the Internet, their biggest focal point seems to be on attempting to maintain some relevance in the online health and scientific community.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institute of Health “is one of the world's foremost medical research centers” according to their website. They state that they are “the Federal focal point for health and medical research”. Their website offers “health information for the public, scientists, researchers, medical professionals, patients, educators, and students”. They have posted the following list of goals as an institution in order of importance that they hope will “provide leadership and direction to programs” designed to improve the health of the Nation by conducting and supporting research:

• In the causes, prevention, and causes of human diseases;
• In the understanding of mental, addictive, and physical disorders; and
• In directing programs for the collection, dissemination, and exchange of information in medicine and health, including the development and support of medical libraries and the training of medical librarians and other health information specialists.

When compared to those from WebMD, the ones coming from NIH seem to have more technical language and more specific and factual based evidence presented. They provide references within each article and cite everything from pictures to numerical figures. I did not see any advertisements posted on their website, which did not surprise me seeing as how their research is directly funded by Congress. They strive to improve health, contribute to society, and expand knowledge all with the click of your fingertip. They actively seek fundamental knowledge to “enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability”. The entire NIH is devoted to those within the medical field, whether as a professional or as a patient. Their intention is to produce and send out very formal and specific research articles/publications to those with some type of education within the scientific community, regardless of age, race, gender, or cultural background.

Conclusion 

Although both websites contain information within them, WebMD and NIH differ when it comes to content. WebMD wants the reader to come to them, while NIH puts the information out into society. Through and through, NIH consistently works to acquire new knowledge from within its own laboratories that will reach universities, hospitals, and research institutions throughout the country, while WebMD works to put out information, articles, and newsletters into the hands of anyone curious enough to look up news and information on human health.