An Opportunistic Validation of Studies on the Psychosocial Benefits of Blogging

Abstract

Abstract

The authors conducted two studies on the characteristics of bloggers and the psychosocial effects of blogging, both published in CyberPsychology and Behavior. The publication of the first article attracted considerable multinational media attention with over 70 incidents of press coverage in the first 3 weeks after publication. As a consequence, commentary on the research emerged on 167 blogs in the same time period. Many of the comments surrounded the validity of the research findings, and thus an opportunity arose to re-evaluate the research outcomes based on the unsolicited responses posted by bloggers. This report outlines the methodology used to evaluate responses to the initial research, and discusses potential future applications of this approach.