Friday, April 3, 2015

Why read blogs anyway?

Back in the early 2000s, I worked for a larger non-profit in Boston. One of the staff attorneys spent a lot of time reading these things he called 'web logs' that were online. Now I had heard of them but never thought much of them. They were one of the first internet fads...

Then I started writing one, because it helped me cope. All bloggers ask themselves the question once in a while 'why the hell am I still blogging?' We all have our reasons. Some of us stop blogging or our blogs change topic completely but we keep writing. And some of us still blog about the same damn things because we have no lives I guess.

Now the question becomes why do readers read these blogs anyway? Especially if they contain all sorts of useless and senseless crap that only makes sense to me the writer? And even more especially if its about cancer, that lovely ailment?

Someone is finally taking the time to quantify and ask questions about this. As you can see in the little box to the right ==> where it says:  "Blog Impact Survey - til 4/30/15" in big bold letters. There is a link to a survey because another blogger, Rebecca Hogue, got smart. 

She is conducting a study on how breast cancer blogs are impacting people who read them. She put together a survey that takes about 5 minutes to complete. (She says 5 minutes but I took it myself and think its probably more like 3 minutes or if you read fast, maybe only 2 minutes.) She is most interested in the final question (and I'm not tell you what it is - you have to take the survey to find out). Here's the link if you can't move your mouse far enough over to the right

You don't have to complete it today as it is open until the end of the month. I will probably even remind you in the future because I know I can't remember anything for mroe than a nano-second anyway.

Can I just say "please" one more time? It would really be nice if we knew why people read our blogs and if they help anyone or if we are just senselessly babbling our way through our illnesses? 

Thank you. 

2 comments:

eve said...

Carolyn, I just want to say I read your blog and find it wonderful. Love your feistiness and sense of humor and deep honesty.

Scott J said...

It would be interesting to know why people read (and write) health related blogs. One guess is that we are more complicated (and interesting) than the composite 'patient' models that doctors practice on and health care administrators' inflate-to-interview simulators allow.

Having been treated in a university hospital a few times I've been visited by learned physicians and their eager students and lectured on but never asked for input. Though it's nice to be an exemplar of whatever, it's also obvious the human element and apparent host of said whatever needs to go elsewhere for attention. To a blog maybe?

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