Ortho-McNeil Launches Facebook Site for Adult ADHD

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Pediatrics, this week, launched its latest social media endeavor-a Facebook page devoted to adults living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The site, ADHD Allies (facebook.com/ADHDAllies), works like a traditional Facebook page, but features a bevy of informational tools directed at the 9 million adults suffering from the condition. Topics include organization at work, financial organization, and social interactions during the summer.

“A lot of people think that ADHD is associated only with children, but if you look at the NIH numbers, the estimates for adult ADHD are significant,” said Tricia Geoghegan, a spokesperson for McNeil Pediatrics. “We wanted to provide the same kind of resources in Facebook for the adult population as we have for caregivers.”

This isn’t McNeil’s first jump into social media. Last year, the company launched a Facebook site geared towards mothers of children with ADHD. To date, that site has garnered more than 8,200 fans. However, unlike the site about caregivers, ADHD Allies requires people with the disease to actually come out and announce that they have it.

“We know that this is a different kind of user engagement,” Geoghegan said. “What we’ve done is try to provide users resources that are different from other sites, and if adults with ADHD see value in this and want to become a fan, then that’s going to be more important to them than anything else.”

McNeil Pediatrics took advantage of Facebook’s new and controversial format, which allows users to include tabbed browsing, comment-wall functionality, and modifiable self-assessment sections. The company wanted to aggregate as much data on ADHD into one location, and also feature articles and personal insights from industry leaders.

“The commenting feature is compliant with J&J’s social media guidelines, which states that all comments must be moderated or post-moderated,” Geoghegan said. “If you go to J&J corporate and look at our YouTube channel or our blog, JNJBTW, they all use the same standard, which is that users can provide comments, but the company can upload them if they meet the posting policy.”