Dept of Gerontology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, 02125, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2010 Aug;100(8):1514-9. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.175125. Epub 2010 Jun 17.
We analyzed the content and characteristics of influential health blogs and bloggers to provide a more thorough understanding of the health blogosphere than was previously available.
We identified, through a purposive-snowball approach, 951 health blogs in 2007 and 2008. All blogs were US focused and updated regularly. We described their features, topics, perspectives, and blogger demographics.
Approximately half of the bloggers in our sample were employed in the health field. A majority were female, aged in their 30s, and highly educated. Two thirds posted at least weekly; one quarter accepted advertisements. Most blogs were established after 2004. They typically focused on bloggers' experiences with 1 disease or condition or on the personal experiences of health professionals. Half were written from a professional perspective, one third from a patient-consumer perspective, and a few from the perspective of an unpaid caregiver.
Data collected from health blogs could be aggregated for large-scale empirical investigations. Future research should assess the quality of the information posted and identify what blog features and elements best reflect adherence to prevailing norms of conduct.
我们分析了有影响力的健康博客和博主的内容和特点，以便比以往更全面地了解健康博客圈。
我们通过有目的的滚雪球方法，确定了 2007 年和 2008 年的 951 个健康博客。所有的博客都集中在美国，并且定期更新。我们描述了它们的特点、主题、观点和博主的人口统计数据。
我们样本中的大约一半博主在健康领域工作。大多数是女性，年龄在 30 多岁，受过高等教育。三分之二的人每周至少发一次帖子；四分之一的人接受广告。大多数博客都是在 2004 年后建立的。它们通常集中在博主对 1 种疾病或状况的经验上，或者集中在健康专业人员的个人经验上。一半的博客是从专业的角度写的，三分之一是从病人消费者的角度写的，还有少数是从无偿照顾者的角度写的。
可以从健康博客中收集数据进行大规模的实证调查。未来的研究应该评估所发布信息的质量，并确定哪些博客功能和元素最能反映出对现行行为规范的遵守。
