"I hope to share my struggles, my successes, and everything in between": a rhetorical study of health blogs

Abstract

<p>Many patients who are experiencing a serious illness need a way to express their emotions and continue their everyday lives. For some patients, one outlet is through a health blog. Health blogs allow these individuals to share their emotions about their illness through narrative and with a wide audience over the Internet.;The visual and textual elements of health blogs work together to create an identity that is unique to each blogger. As these visual and textual elements combine, one can see the narratives emerge. Through these narratives, the bloggers persuade both themselves and others that they can to some degree) control what is happening to them.;An analysis of these health blog narratives will show how their messages are persuasive. From this analysis, we can argue that using these health blogs for health information is not a viable application. Instead, the audience should understand health blogs as representing specific individuals and their experiences with illness as they try to continue their everyday lives.</p>