Now, a 'sickness' map that tracks FB posts to warn people of disease outbreaks!

Some facts about your friends on social media sites may seem useless and boring, but a US company has come up with a new project that will turn these facts valuable to you. Sickweather, a Baltimore startup, is in the process of creating a system that tracks social media sites like Facebook and Twitter for public references to 'sickness', reports the Discovery News. The system then attempts to create a sickness map that warns people of outbreaks to help them avoid catching the bugs. The company hopes to establish its own social network eventually, through which users will be able to log in to track the health assessments in their community. For now, however, Sickweather's founders are moving to build a reporting tool on the shoulders of other more established online communities. Graham Dodge, the CEO of Sickweather, told Technology Review that he anticipates the system would be particularly appealing to young families with vulnerable children. Sickweather is hoping that by applying the same approach at a local level, and using micro-blogging sites instead of news sources, they can give the public an even more personal health tool.