Anyone Can Blog:

Psychology as seen through

the blogosphere

Anyone Can Blog: Psychology As Seen Through the Blogosphere

Wray Herbert

John Grohol

Greta and Dave Munger

Laura Freberg

Nine yearsNine yearsof psychology bloggingof psychology blogging

John M. Grohol, Psy.D.grohol@psychcentral.com

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingOverview of Psych CentralOverview of Psych Central

Founded in 1995The Internet’s leading independent mental health network: • Original editorial content • Daily news and research briefs• 150 community forums• 55,000+ members• 120,000+ newsletter subscribers• World of Psychology blog

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingWorld of Psychology BlogWorld of Psychology Blog

Making mental health accessible

Actionable information

Focus on “Abnormal” psychology

Entries are relatively brief (800+ words)

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingWorld of Psychology BlogWorld of Psychology Blog

Started in October 1999

3,000+ entries

A half-dozen different contributors over the years

Wrote own blogging software(OpenJournal)

Now use WordPress

Approx. 35,000 readers/month

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingMost Popular EntriesMost Popular Entries

1. Celebrities with Eating Disorders2. Generic Lexapro Coming to Stores Near You!3. Why Would You Lie to Your Therapist? 4. Top Ten Bipolar Blogs5. Withdrawal from Antidepressants6. 237 Reasons to Have Sex7. Why Does eHarmony Reject People?8. Top Ten Depression Blogs9. The Story Behind the Increase in Teen Suicide Rates10. TV & ADHD

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingMost Commented On…Most Commented On…

Trichotillomania Treatment

Why Would You Lie to Your Therapist?

Light and Dark

The UK's Lisa Blakemore-Brown Case

Asthma + Singulair = Suicide?

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingLessons LearnedLessons Learned

Pick a focused topic and commit to it

Takes a lot of patience

Is a commitment

Quality is paramount

Write in your reader’s language

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingMore Lessons LearnedMore Lessons Learned

Market your blog

Invite guest entries

KISS – Use Blogger or Wordpress.com

Burn-out is common

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingTips to Reduce Burn-OutTips to Reduce Burn-Out

Write what you know

Blog for internal motivations, not external ones

Incorporate blogging into yourdaily or weekly routine

Don’t force entries

Keep your expectations realistic

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Nine Years of Psychology

BloggingWhy We Do ItWhy We Do It

“I wish I could say that ECT saved my mother, but instead it destroyed her and replaced her with somebody that I don’t know.” – A

“I felt so isolated because where I grew up I was the only person with this condition (trichotillomania).” – Nina

“This site kept me from killing myself.” – Hannah

Nine yearsNine yearsof psychology bloggingof psychology blogging

John M. Grohol, Psy.D.grohol@psychcentral.com

Helping the Public Understand Basic Psychology Research and See it in Action

Greta Munger, Davidson College

Dave Munger, ResearchBlogging.org

How the blog works• Lecture from specific research reports

– Provides examples not from text book– Keeps me engaged and excited

• Dave summarizes them for blog– Often with cool demo!

In my classes• Standard assignment: summary paper

• Choose article in area; write critical summary

• Use blog as example for posts• Highlights the intended audience

• Quality has definitely improved• Audience clear and good examples

• Top writers are invited to submit to blog• Additional editorial work by Dave

Additional class use• Supplement lectures

– Particularly the demos!

• Student readings– Wide range of examples– No prepared discussion questions

New feature• Blog categories

– Fairly casual, hard to use for teaching?• “memory” covers a lot of ground!

Teaching index…

Blogging for research• CogDaily for general public

• Researchers can use blogs too

• Other blogs have a different mission from CogDaily

Research Blogging uses• To recruit participants

• To keep an open lab notebook

• To follow the literature

• Easy to create at sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com

http://philosophyofbrains.com

http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence

http://paul-baxter.blogspot.com

ResearchBlogging.org• Find other serious blog posts

• Share your posts

• Build a community of like-minded scientists

How it works• Bloggers register with our site• They enter reference information in a

form -- usually just a single identifier• They copy code from our site into their

posts• Our site finds the posts and publishes

them for the world to see

Sneak preview!• New version of site to be launched soon

• Non-profit supported by Seed Media Group

• Professional programming and design

Thank you!• scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily

• Researchblogging.org

The Blogging Professor: Using Blogs to Interact With

Students

Laura FrebergCalifornia Polytechnic State University,

San Luis Obispohttp://www.laurafreberg.com/blog/

lfreberg@calpoly.edu

Increasing Communication With Students

• Discussion Boards (Blackboard, etc.)

• Advantages of Blogs– Familiar medium for today’s student– Graphics, links increase interest– Discover which topics are interesting to

students

Questions for Blogging Professors

• Am I representing my university? Or just myself?• What will my colleagues think?• Can I hit the right notes of professionalism and

personality?• Is writing using new media an example of

professional development?• Do I have time to do this?

Thank You!

This Presentation Will Be Available Later Today at

http://www.laurafreberg.com/blog