title: The weight loss blogosphere: an online survey of weight loss bloggers.
abstract: Blogging is a form of online journaling that has been increasingly used to document an attempt in weight loss. Despite the prevalence of weight loss bloggers, few studies have examined this population. We examined characteristics of weight loss bloggers and their blogs, including blogging habits, reasons for blogging, like and dislikes of blogging, and associations between blogging activity and weight loss. Participants (N = 194, 92.3 % female, mean age = 35) were recruited from Twitter and Facebook to complete an online survey. Participants reported an average weight loss of 42.3 pounds since starting to blog about their weight loss attempt. Blogging duration significantly predicted greater weight loss during blogging (β = -3.65, t(185) = -2.97, p = .003). Findings suggest that bloggers are generally successful with their weight loss attempt. Future research should explore what determines weight loss success/failure in bloggers and whether individuals desiring to lose weight would benefit from blogging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. martinus.evans@gmail.com.|Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Ave North, Worcester, MA, 01655, USA. martinus.evans@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Martinus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Pouran D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Faghri
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Ave North, Worcester, MA, 01655, USA.
authors.forename: Sherry L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pagoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Kristin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantitative Health Sciences and Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Molly E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Waring
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Whited
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Appelhans
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and The Miriam Hospital, Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health and Health Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Ailton S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Coleman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057218:Blogging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy; D015995:Prevalence; D012650:Self Disclosure; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bloggers; Blogging; Obesity; Social media; Weblog; Weight loss; Weight loss blogs