This talk is part of the Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series presented by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Social technologies — for example, social media, mobile apps, internet searching, and wearable sensors — and the data they produce are increasingly being used as tools in public health research and practice. More than half of the world (4.5 billion people) is using social media sites to create, share, and discuss content. Social media users are not just sharing trivial facts, but publicly telling the world personal things about their thoughts, behaviors, and clinical diagnoses. These technologies are also being used widely to change people ’ s political and health-related beliefs and behaviors. It is essential for researchers and health ...