examining the medical blogosphere: an online survey of medical bloggers
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Examining the Medical Blogosphere: An Online Survey of Medical Bloggers
Ivor Kovic + Ileana Lulic +
Gordana Brumini +
Text
Scientific paperpublished in . . .
Open Access peer-reviewed journal
#6 journal in the health sciences category
#2 in the health informatics category
Impact factor: 3.0
objective
Investigate the characteristics of medical bloggers and their
blogs
Investigate the characteristics of medical bloggers and their
blogs+ demographics+ internet and blogging habits+ motivations for blogging + practices associated with journalism
methods
I. design the survey
Parts Questions
internet and blogging habits 7
blog characteristics 19
blogging motivation 3
demographics 8
total 37
1I. find medical blogs
1I. find medical blogs
740 total
627 unique
331 active
197 included
1I. find medical blogs
740 total - found on all sources
627 unique - between sources
331 active -
197 included -
posts within last month English-language medical blogs
direct contact to the authore-mail or contact form
III. send survey invitations
IV. sit and wait
V. analyze gathered data
Pearson’s Chi-Square testSpearman’s rank correlation coefficient Mann-Whitney U test
results
30 - 49 years old58%
Average medical blogger
*
*
59%male
75%white
34%physician
heavy internet users
56%spending 20 or more hours per week on the Internet
96%utilize a broadband Internet connection
99%get medical news from the Internet
86%get medical news from other blogs
66%get medical news from RSS feeds
24%get medical news
from podcasts
Male bloggers used RSS to get medical news more than females
25%used a pseudonym
preferred to write at home
80%
Main blog topics were . . .
Specific medical specialtyInformation technology in medicine
Public health
RSS feeds where offered to readers by
89%
female bloggers were less likely to offer RSS feeds
54% published a scientific paper
44%published a book or a chapter in a book
41% published a newspaper article
When it comes to journalism . . .
most frequently included links to original source of material & spent extra time verifying facts rarely tried to obtain permission to post copyrighted material
When it comes to journalism . . .
female medical bloggers get permission for posting copyrighted material more often
When it comes to journalism . . .
Bloggers who have published a scientific paper were more likely to quote directly other people or media
When it comes to journalism . . .
those blogging under their real name were more inclined to include links to original sources
Major motivations for blogging were . . .
sharing practical knowledge/skills with others influencing the way other people think
expressing oneself creatively
No reasons for blogging . . .
making money staying in touch with friends and family
received attention for their blogs from . . .
99%other bloggers
78%coworkers
66%news media
47%family
Recipe for getting news media attention
more years of experience as a blogger+
more hours per week spent on the Internet +
acquiring medical news from other blogs
We would like to thank all medical bloggers who participated in our survey . . .
Examining the Medical Blogosphere: An Online Survey of Medical Bloggers
Read the complete article at Journal of Medical Internet Researchhttp://www.jmir.org/2008/3/e28/HTML
Ivor Kovic, MD Rijeka University School of Medicine, Croatia [email protected]://www.ivor-kovic.com
Ileana Lulic, MDRijeka University School of Medicine, [email protected]
Gordana Brumini, PhDDepartment of Medical Informatics, Rijeka University School of Medicine, [email protected]
Image credits:
Slide 1: Matthew Hurst, http://datamining.typepad.com/Slide 2: iStockphoto, JMIRSlide 3: JMIRSlide 4-7: iStockphotoSlide 9: Yahoo, Trusted.MD, Medgadget, MedlogsSlide 12-25: iStockphotoSlide 26: http://www.variawa.co.zaSlide 27, 28: iStockphotoSlide 29-32: Jompa Hallberg, http://www.variawa.co.za, Getty Images, WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & CoSlide 33-36: iStockphotoSlide 37: CBS Studios Inc.Slide 38-41: iStockphoto