Anyone Can Blog: Psychology As
Seen Through the Blogosphere
Wray Herbert
Anyone Can Blog:
John GroholPsychology
as seen through
the blogosphere
Greta and Dave
Munger
Laura Freberg
Nine years
of psychology blogging
John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
grohol@psychcentral.com
Overview of Psych Central
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
Founded in 1995
The Internet’s leading
independent mental health network:
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Original editorial content
Daily news and research briefs
150 community forums
55,000+ members
120,000+ newsletter subscribers
World of Psychology blog
© 2008 - 3
World of Psychology Blog
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
Making mental health accessible
Actionable information
Focus on “Abnormal” psychology
Entries are relatively brief (800+ words)
© 2008 - 4
World of Psychology Blog
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
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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Most Popular Entries
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Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
Celebrities with Eating Disorders
Generic Lexapro Coming to Stores Near You!
Why Would You Lie to Your Therapist?
Top Ten Bipolar Blogs
Withdrawal from Antidepressants
237 Reasons to Have Sex
Why Does eHarmony Reject People?
Top Ten Depression Blogs
The Story Behind the Increase in Teen Suicide Rates
TV & ADHD
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Most Commented On…
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
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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Lessons Learned
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
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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More Lessons Learned
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
Market your blog
Invite guest entries
KISS – Use Blogger or Wordpress.com
Burn-out is common
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Tips to Reduce Burn-Out
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
Write what you know
Blog for internal motivations,
not external ones
Incorporate blogging into your
daily or weekly routine
Don’t force entries
Keep your expectations realistic
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Why We Do It
Nine Years of
Psychology Blogging
“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
© 2008 - 11
Nine years
of 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
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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 Freberg
California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo
http://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