The Evolving Health Blogosphere: Report September 10, 2008
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Blogging, Health, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.trackback
As Jan Martens has recently reported about it, Envision Solutions published a new study on the healthcare blogosphere. Some interesting excerpts:
- The total US adult health blogging population stands at 13.6 million as of August 2008.
- Percentage of Anonymous Bloggers Drops Sharply.
- Health Bloggers Reporting Media Contact Increases By 45%
Conclusion? As I stated in my recent slideshow from the Medicine 2.0 Congress, do not blog anonymously.
And just one more comment about bloggers who publish content from PR people. They send me a letter about a new medical service, I write about it so I can inform my readers, PR guys get promotion, everybody is happy. That’s how web 2.0 is supposed to work…
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I’ve been saying this for a while. Do not blog anonymously. What’s the point really?
Anonymous
I don’t understand the background on your statement about anonymous blogging. I reviewed the referenced slide show and it wasn’t clear to me what your rationale is behind this statement.
I am curious why you think it’s a bad idea.
If you want to manage a quality medical blog with reliable medical content, you cannot do it anonymously.
Or if you do it, at least use more proper references than anyone else in the blogosphere.
That makes sense. I stumbled upon your blog without having a reference point for the context of your comment. I agree that in terms of medical content, it is critical to be able to evaluate the sources of information for accuracy and timeliness.
My question about anonymity originated from my interest in an area of medicine that carries significant stigma…mental health. Obviously any mental health-related content should be well-documented and transparent. At the same time, I think there are unique opportunities to engage in honest dialog about mental health in the blogosphere that, due to stigma, require anonymity.
I sometimes blog professionally using my real name. I also regularly blog under a pseudonym. The point of my anonymous blogging is to make mental health research findings accessible and relevant to people’s daily lives. I do reference research findings. Thanks to your feedback, I will continue to do this…and make sure my references are impeccable!