September 24, 2008
Survey of Medical Bloggers
Researchers in the Department of Medical Informatics, Rijeka University School of Medicine, Croatia conducted a study of medical bloggers. The authors point out that despite their popularity, however, little is known about blogs or their creators. They approached 197 medical bloggers of English-language medical blogs which provided direct contact information, with posts published within the past month. The survey included 37 items designed to evaluate data about Internet and blogging habits, blog characteristics, blogging motivations, and, finally, the demographic data of bloggers.
The goal of the research was to evaluate characteristics of medical bloggers and their blogs, including bloggers’ Internet and blogging habits, their motivations for blogging, and whether or not they follow the generally accepted practices associated with journalism.
The authors concluded that medical bloggers are highly educated and devoted blog writers, faithful to their sources and readers. Sharing practical knowledge and skills, as well as influencing the way other people think, were major motivations for blogging among our medical bloggers. Medical blogs are frequently picked up by mainstream media; thus, blogs are an important vehicle to influence medical and health policy.
This study is published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research
Examining the Medical Blogosphere: An Online Survey of Medical Bloggers
Ivor Kovic, MD; Ileana Lulic, MD; Gordana Brumini, PhD
Rijeka University School of Medicine, Croatia
Department of Medical Informatics, Rijeka University School of Medicine, Croatia
J Med Internet Res 2008;10(3):e28