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New Report Paints Detailed Picture of Health Blogosphere

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 September 2008, 09:30 CDT

NEW YORK, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new national survey, nearly half of American adult bloggers have recently written about a health-related subject.(1) Of this group, 60% posted on blogs primarily dealing with health. This research indicates that the total U.S. adult health blogging population currently stands at 13.6 million.

In addition, the second installment of a global poll of health bloggers reveals that fewer respondents blogged anonymously. (The first edition of this poll was released in 2006.) Also, the percentage of health bloggers writing about their personal experiences sharply decreased. Seventy-seven percent of people who took this survey were from the United States.

Both surveys are featured in a new report, "The Evolving Health Blogosphere," released today by healthcare marketing communications consultancy Envision Solutions. It represents the second in a series of studies examining how people are using various interactive technologies, including the Internet, for health. To download the report, please go to http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/healthblogosphere .

Additional Highlights From National Survey

-- American Health Bloggers Racially Diverse: Thirty-eight percent of those writing on health-focused blogs are African American and Hispanic.

-- Women Dominate U.S. Health Blogosphere: Females make up 57% of the health blogging population.

-- Health Bloggers Trust Peers: Seventy-three percent of respondents said they had moderate or high confidence most health bloggers disclosed conflicts of interest.

-- Education & Marketing Important: Nearly one-third reported that the most important reason they started a blog was to educate others. Twenty-one percent said they primarily blogged for marketing purposes.

-- Marketing Activity On Upswing: The number of bloggers reporting inquiries from public relations professionals increased by 57% between the first and second editions of the survey. In addition, bloggers were more likely to say they published advertisements on their Weblogs.

Implications

These studies illustrate how health blogging has come of age over the past several years. Once dominated by medical professionals, the health blogosphere now incorporates a diverse range of people in the United States and around the world.

We also found that concerns about the credibility of health bloggers may be misplaced. While many bloggers continue to view content developed by their peers critically, most believe conflicts are routinely disclosed.

About This Research

National Online Survey: Kelton Research (http://www.keltonresearch.com/), a leading polling firm, conducted a nationally representative online survey of 2,000 U.S. adults (18+) on behalf of Envision Solutions from August 11-15, 2008. This study has a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.

Global Online Survey: Envision Solutions and Trusted.MD (http://trusted.md/), a health social networking service, fielded an online survey of 138 health bloggers between August 27 and October 15, 2007. This poll is not scientific.

About Envision Solutions

Envision Solutions, LLC is a full-service healthcare marketing communications consulting firm. Our core competencies are in the areas of analysis, strategic and tactical recommendation development, training and content development. Please visit http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/ for more information about the firm.

(1) Americans were asked to describe their blogging activity between

February and August 2008.

Envision Solutions, LLC

CONTACT: Fard Johnmar, for Envision Solutions, LLC, +1-646-723-2341,news@envisionsolutionsnow.com

Web site: http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/healthblogosphere

Source: PRNewswire

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