Not exactly me, but close

After seeing the less than flattering article about bloggers' brains in Scientific American, I decided to check PubMed (National Library of Medicine). I had a little problem with my search strategy--it kept changing "blogging" to "logging," a topic I don't care much about. So finally I went for KISS and typed in, B L O G, and it took that. So of course, I found an article about medical bloggers (I have a list of my own favorites, too). "Examining the medical blogosphere: an online survey of medical bloggers." J Med Internet Res. 2008 Sep 23;10(3):e28.

A total of 80 (42%) of 197 eligible participants responded. The majority of responding bloggers were white (75%), highly educated (71% with a Masters degree or doctorate), male (59%), residents of the United States (72%), between the ages of 30 and 49 (58%), and working in the healthcare industry (67%). Most of them were experienced bloggers, with 23% (18/80) blogging for 4 or more years, 38% (30/80) for 2 or 3 years, 32% (26/80) for about a year, and only 7% (6/80) for 6 months or less. Those who received attention from the news media numbered 66% (53/80). When it comes to best practices associated with journalism, the participants most frequently reported including links to original source of material and spending extra time verifying facts, while rarely seeking permission to post copyrighted material. Bloggers who have published a scientific paper were more likely to quote other people or media than those who have never published such a paper (U= 506.5, n(1)= 41, n(2)= 35, P= .016). Those blogging under their real name more often included links to original sources than those writing under a pseudonym (U= 446.5, n(1)= 58, n(2)= 19, P= .01). Major motivations for blogging were sharing practical knowledge or skills with others, influencing the way others think, and expressing oneself creatively. CONCLUSIONS: Medical bloggers are highly educated* and devoted blog writers*, faithful to their sources* and readers*. Sharing practical knowledge* and skills, as well as influencing the way other people think, were major motivations for blogging among our medical bloggers. Medical blogs are frequently picked up by mainstream media; thus, blogs are an important vehicle to influence medical and health policy.

There. That sounds more like me*. Except for being picked up by the mainstream media and I don't think I've influenced any health policy. But I am a published author in both the science and library fields; I use my real name; I verify my facts and link to sources. However, I am a tad older than the survey median. That must be why. No one's called or contacted me.