Cancer Survivors Network Creates Online Connections for Those Dealing with Cancer

Long before Facebook and MySpace became household names, the American Cancer Society was building upon Americans’ growing interest in online social networking by providing the Cancer Survivors Network, a free, worldwide community of cancer survivors, caregivers, family, and friends who offer each other emotional support, encouragement, practical advice, and humor. The site, www.cancer.org/csn, has an active community of tens of thousands of members, but is available to the millions of people facing cancer globally.

Initially launched in 2000, the non-commercial Web site has been re-designed in order to offer new features and functionality. Its most popular feature is its wide variety of active discussion groups and real-time chatting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which allows cancer patients, survivors, and their supporters a private, secure way to communicate with others who share common experiences. Similar to mainstream social networking sites, users control access to their personal information, allowing them to be as anonymous or as identifiable as they wish.

Other features of the site include personal web space in which members can tell their stories, share photos, blogs, art, poems, resources, audio, and more. The site’s Celebrate Life gallery, features photos and information about Cancer Survivors Network members and the search functions allow users to find others using specific criteria, including cancer type, age, and gender. The Cancer Survivors Network even offers a private and secure internal messaging system so members may communicate with one another without sharing any personal identifiers such as their email address.

“The greatest strength of the Cancer Survivors Network is the people who use it. People at various stages of cancer treatment, their families and friends, really make the site what it is by contributing their own stories of survival and hope,” said Terry Music, interim chief mission officer at the American Cancer Society. “There are 11 million cancer survivors in this country, and one-third of Americans have served as an unpaid caregiver to a relative or friend facing cancer. Our goal is to provide a robust online community that has something to offer each person.”