Dietary blogs as sites of informational and emotional support

Introduction. This paper investigates the strategies that people employ to solicit and provide informational and emotional support in the blogosphere. Method. A sample of eight Finnish blogs on dietary issues was selected for the study. The data contain 489 postings and 1,117 comments submitted to the discussion areas in 2009. Descriptive statistics was used to calculate the percentage distributions for the categories of soliciting and providing support. In addition, qualitative content analysis was employed to characterize the nature of blog postings and comments. Results. The bloggers mainly solicited emotionally-oriented support by describing problems faced in the dieting efforts and reporting experiences of personal success. About 63% of the postings solicited support of some kind. The readers commenting on the bloggers' postings primarily offered informational support, esteem support and emotional support. About 65% of the comments provided support of various kinds. The high percentage is mainly due to the specific nature of the blog as a person-centred forum in which the readers are expected to behave like invited visitors and provide support for the blogger's ongoing project. Conclusions. Blogs represent empathic communities that also enable the seeking and provision of informational support. However, blogs do not primarily offer factual information since the main emphasis is laid on the sharing of experiences and opinions..