Inside the health blogosphere: quality, governance and the new innovation leaders.

Abstract

Research has shown that "Health 2.0"--user-generated health information often featuring blogging or collaborative editing tools known as "wikis"--is increasingly popular among health professionals, chronic disease sufferers and the general public. However, concerns persist over the alleged inaccuracy, bias and poor governance of self-published health websites. This article addresses two questions: Does the public naturally gravitate toward trustworthy, objective and credible self-published health blog content? Do health blogs offer readers objective information that provides privacy protection and is devoid of partisanship or industry influence?