Making the Virtual Rounds: The Use of Blogs by Health-Care Professionals. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scheibling, Casey; Gillett, James; Brett, Gordon
• Is Part Of: Journal of communication inquiry. Volume 42:Number 1(2018:Jan.)
• Page Start: 48
• Page End: 66
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: blogs -- digital media -- health care -- health communication -- virtual community; Communication -- Periodicals; Questioning -- Periodicals; Inquiry (Theory of knowledge) -- Periodicals; Communication -- Périodiques; Recherche (Théorie de la connaissance) -- Périodiques; 302.205
• DOI: 10.1177/0196859917722364
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0196-8599

Abstract

In the "Health 2.0" era, digital media has altered how health care is conducted and how patients consume medical information. This article explores the reasons why health-care professionals create their own blogs and how they use blogging as a component of their work. We examine interviews with medical bloggers ( n = 83) featured on "Grand Rounds, " a weekly medical blog forum or "carnival, " to interpret the ways in which blogging is incorporated into their everyday lives. In performing a qualitative thematic analysis, we develop five themes that help capture what blogs mean to these health-care practitioners. The uses of blogs speak to articulating and reestablishing a professional reputation, connecting with patients informally, writing for therapeutic reasons, negotiating institutional constraints, and promoting community and health-care reform.