Health Bloggers: How did you get started?
There are many types of health activist bloggers in the blogosphere: bloggers of loved ones that are ill or have a disease, patients themselves that blog about their illness, doctors that blog about their practice or medicine in general, or just general people that have taken up a health cause (i.e. health care reform, breast cancer awareness). While poking around twitter and the internet today, I started to wonder "What made these people become Health Activists and start blogging"?
I got my start by accident. I started my my blog as a kind of diary to keep track of my sons every day activities. They were growing so quickly that I didn't want to forget the little things. It was in the fall that I began blogging and my son was struggling with his asthma due to his fall allergies. I started blogging about it and people started to find me and leave comments like "I know what you mean, my child has the same problem" or "I'm so glad that you wrote about this. It let's us know that we aren't alone". It got me to thinking that there was a void at the time for information about children with asthma and food allergies so I started to write about our every day lives and how we deal these issues. That's when I started to connect with some of my favorite health bloggers and I've been following them ever since: Allergic Girl, Gluten Free Girl, Go Dairy Free (there are many, many more so I'm just throwing out the first 3 I ever followed).
How did you get your start health blogging? Did you start out to be a health blogger or did it evolve that way over time?
Who do you admire in the health blogging community?
And while poking around today I found this health blog: From the desk of Nurse Donna. At first I thought it was an "Ask the nurse" blog about health topics. But it's actually a school nurse from a school district that blogs about what illness are running through that district and what they are doing to keep them in check. It also has links and suggestions for parents on how to keep their children healthy and safe from various illnesses. What a great idea!! What do think? Do you wish your school district had something like this? Would you be willing to help set one up and update it for the school nurse (since you are all health blogging pro's)?
Cross posting in the WEGO Health Health Bloggers Group. Please leave a comment or start your own discussion. I'd love to get your feedback.
I got my start by accident. I started my my blog as a kind of diary to keep track of my sons every day activities. They were growing so quickly that I didn't want to forget the little things. It was in the fall that I began blogging and my son was struggling with his asthma due to his fall allergies. I started blogging about it and people started to find me and leave comments like "I know what you mean, my child has the same problem" or "I'm so glad that you wrote about this. It let's us know that we aren't alone". It got me to thinking that there was a void at the time for information about children with asthma and food allergies so I started to write about our every day lives and how we deal these issues. That's when I started to connect with some of my favorite health bloggers and I've been following them ever since: Allergic Girl, Gluten Free Girl, Go Dairy Free (there are many, many more so I'm just throwing out the first 3 I ever followed).
How did you get your start health blogging? Did you start out to be a health blogger or did it evolve that way over time?
Who do you admire in the health blogging community?
And while poking around today I found this health blog: From the desk of Nurse Donna. At first I thought it was an "Ask the nurse" blog about health topics. But it's actually a school nurse from a school district that blogs about what illness are running through that district and what they are doing to keep them in check. It also has links and suggestions for parents on how to keep their children healthy and safe from various illnesses. What a great idea!! What do think? Do you wish your school district had something like this? Would you be willing to help set one up and update it for the school nurse (since you are all health blogging pro's)?
Cross posting in the WEGO Health Health Bloggers Group. Please leave a comment or start your own discussion. I'd love to get your feedback.
Tags: bloggers, blogging, health, health bloggers, wego health
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jasmine on -
Great blog - I commented on "Where's the Wheat Hiding." I definitely started jasmine's cove to record my journey to minimize Chronic Migraine, its cause(s), the treatments I've tried, and to share my experience of a life with multiple invisible illnesses. If I can help others along the way, it gives me purpose, and helps me turn a negative experience into a positive one.
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Permalink Reply by Rebekah on -
I want people to have the resources they need. I know what it is like to have no idea where to start and be left alone to figure things out. I want to be able to help in some way and let others know that even if we don't have all the answers, there is someone out there who cares enough about them to partner with them in finding answers.
So I guess that means I started out to support others. However, my blog isn't the main focus. I use the blog to record ideas that are interesting to me, to share things, but now i'm expanding to a magazine format with articles written by others (hopefully) so that the readers will really ahve things at their finger tips in a much more focused way...
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Permalink Reply by beka on -
Hi - I simply was asked to write and got PAID for Blogging. That's how I got started.
beka
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Permalink Reply by Janeen on -
Thanks ladies! These are all such different answers on how 3 terrific bloggers got started. No matter how or why you started blogging, I'm glad that you did. You all provide a wonderful service to the health community.
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Permalink Reply by kerri on -
I started my blog when I realized that I was filling my LiveJournal up about stuff about my lungs and my asthma journey. And that my friends on LiveJournal were probably getting sick of hearing me complain about my lungs!
When I was getting really frustrated with my asthma, I started up my asthma blog, Hold Your Breath to Breathe, and have definitely not regretted that decision! I have made awesome friends through it, and gotten involved with communities like this one, Wellsphere and WeAreBreathless.
I also think it's helped me to sort through issues with my asthma, by getting feedback from other asthma patients (who are now friends!) who GET IT, as well as talk about it less with people who don't get it and don't know what to say to me--which I'm sure they also appreciate :).
And seriously, the feeling you get when you receive an e-mail saying "I wanted to thank you for being an inspiration to me to work harder at getting in control of my asthma", is just indescribable.
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