Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 3-19-2015
Journal / Book Title
World Medical and Health Policy
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe a sample of mental-health blogs, to determine the proportion of sampled blogs still posting several years after identification, and to identify the correlates of survival. One hundred eighty-eight mental-health blogs were identified in 2007–08 and revisited in 2014. Eligible blogs were U.S.-based, in English, and active. Baseline characteristics and survival status were described and variation based on blog focus and survival examined. Mental health bloggers tended to be females blogging as patients and caregivers focusing on specific mental illnesses/conditions. The proportion of blogs still active at follow-up ranged from 25.5 percent to 30.3 percent depending on the definition of survival employed. Factors associated with survival included sponsorship/advertising and assumption of a professional/caregiving rather than patient/consumer perspective. Because professional- ly authored blogs with sponsorship/advertising tend to be longer lived, they may have disproportionate impact on the help-seeking behavior of individuals referred to them by search engine results. This suggests the need to promulgate and adhere to rules governing disclosure of real or perceived conflicts of interest, particularly given the growing use of industry paid/driven content.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.133
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Miller, Edward Alan; Pole, Antoinette; and Usidame, Bukola, "Life and Death in the Mental-Health Blogosphere: An Analysis of Blog Content and Survival" (2015). Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 14.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/polysci-law-facpubs/14
Published Citation
Miller, Edward Alan, Antoinette Pole, and Bukola Usidame. "Life and Death in the Mental‐Health Blogosphere: An Analysis of Blog Content and Survival." World Medical & Health Policy 7, no. 1 (2015): 59-82.
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