The New York Times examines how social media is changing efforts to monitor the spread of diseases. According to the article, “technology is democratizing the disease-hunting process, upsetting the old equilibrium by connecting people through channels effectively outside government control. While the online chatter can be unproductive or even dangerous – spreading fear along with misinformation about causes and cures – a growing cadre of epidemiologists sees social media as a boon. Future hunts for pathogens may rely as heavily on Twitter streams and odd clusters of search queries as on blood tests and personal histories” (Garrity, 6/13).