%0 Journal Article
%T Making the Virtual Rounds: The Use of Blogs by Health
%A Casey Scheibling
%A Gordon Brett
%A James Gillett
%J Journal of Communication Inquiry
%@ 1552-4612
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0196859917722364
%X 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
%K blogs
%K digital media
%K health care
%K health communication
%K virtual community
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0196859917722364