Blogs and the users voice- empowering and enabling by SOPHIE DUNN https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx en-us 2019-02-05 14:22:37 UTC 2019-03-06 19:11:36 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Planets.png Advantages and Disadvantages of Blogging 17002451 https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327777965
 While there are advantages and disadvantages to blogging, it is important to consider the voice it has given to those with mental illness suffering from stigma and discrimination. For example, posting online gives people a voice to express their own story and this may reduce stigma as the wider population read or watch this. A group of researchers led by Marcus (2012) showed young people with mental illness may feel powerless and isolated however by creating resources such as blogs individuals could feel connected and empowered. Furthermore, Naslund (2014) and Betton and Tomlinson (2013) claim blogging may lead to the formation of a social group which may be better equipped to deal with society’s stigma than an individual. Research has shown that blogging leads to social support, shared learning and companionship. This group feeling may lead to feelings of empowerment as they do not face stigma within the group. This is suggested by a research group led by Peek (2015) who claimed people with mental illness are stigmatised and marginalised within society however he suggested that psychiatrists should blog on behalf of their patients as this would enable them to advocate for their patients proactively.

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Research led by Palmer (2012) suggested that those patients who accessed advocacy benefited in terms of empowerment, self-efficacy and well being. Blogs such as ‘Time to Change’ advocate for an end to mental health discrimination often using personal stories to do so. They host time to talk day annually which encourages conversation around mental health. This empowers sufferers of mental health issues to talk about their health and may encourage others to do the same in addition to sharing their story on the blog. However, people’s stories may disempower others as they may feel inferior. For example, someone with severe mental health difficulties could feel shame that they are unable to attend conferences and share their story. In addition to this, some disorders are more prevalent than others. For example, when searching the term depression in personal stories there were 194 pages of results in comparison to 23 pages when searching for schizophrenia. This may be because depression heavily features in other disorders such as bipolar and borderline personality disorder. On the other hand, empowerment could lead to activism as people endeavour to make social change. A group led by Hope (2018) suggested that activism has a positive impact on identity and well being. In addition to this, Stavrositu and Sundar (2012) found that blogging led to psychological empowerment through a sense of agency and community. This reinforces what Hope (2018) found and therefore, blogs may have a positive impact on well being through empowerment as this builds up to activism. 
Link to time to change https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/]]> 2019-02-05 14:26:14 UTC https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778131 Examples of disempowerment 17002451 https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778379
Blogs may lead to people feeling disempowered however through comments and feedback on their story. For example, on the video “STORYTIME: My Mental Health with Pictures | Suicide, Psychosis, Self Harm” one user commented

“You will find yourself in mad house!”

whilst another commented

“This video triggered me to shit post on mental health videos...you probably felt fat at 15 because you were fat at 15, and your still fat now...just being honest honey...”.

This may lead to people feeling disempowered whilst sharing their story and may trigger a relapse in self-harm. In addition, this may dissuade others from advocating use their story because of fear of a similar reaction. In contrast however, there was a lot of support in the comments such as

“Our story is very similar! I feel like finally someone understands me.  it was my trauma and medicine that was making me the way I was. I felt so crazy and I was so out of it. I’m happy I’m better and Im glad you’re better!”

“Damn you are living proof that life can throw anything at you and you can still come back even stronger”.

These comments may lead to the vlogger feeling empowered and advocate for change. In addition, this may encourage others to share their story.


]]> 2019-02-05 14:26:37 UTC https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778379 Conclusion 17002451 https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778647
In conclusion, whilst there are negative consequences to blogging in terms of empowerment there are also many positive ones and this benefits both the original poster and those reading it and may encourage feelings of empowerment in others.


]]> 2019-02-05 14:26:59 UTC https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778647 References 17002451 https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778858  

 Betton, V., & Tomlinson, V. (2013). Social media can help in recovery–but are mental health practitioners up to speed?. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 17(4), 215-219.

Hope, E. C., Velez, G., Offidani-Bertrand, C., Keels, M., & Durkee, M. I. (2018). Political activism and mental health among Black and Latinx college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(1), 26.

Marcus, M. A., Westra, H. A., Eastwood, J. D., Barnes, K. L., & Mobilizing Minds Research Group. (2012). What are young adults saying about mental health? An analysis of Internet blogs. Journal of medical Internet research, 14(1).

Naslund, J. A., Grande, S. W., Aschbrenner, K. A., & Elwyn, G. (2014). Naturally occurring peer support through social media: the experiences of individuals with severe mental illness using YouTube. PLOS one, 9(10), e110171.

Stavrositu, C., & Sundar, S. S. (2012). Does blogging empower women? Exploring the role of agency and community. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(4), 369-386.

Palmer, D., Nixon, J., Reynolds, S., Panayiotou, A., Palmer, A., & Meyerowitz, R. (2012). Getting to know you: reflections on a specialist independent mental health advocacy service for Bexley and Bromley residents in forensic settings. Mental Health Review Journal, 17(1), 5-13.

Peek, H. S., Richards, M., Muir, O., Chan, S. R., Caton, M., & MacMillan, C. (2015). Blogging and social media for mental health education and advocacy: A review for psychiatrists. Current psychiatry reports, 17(11), 88.
]]> 2019-02-05 14:27:19 UTC https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327778858 Examples of disempowerment 17002451 https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327784682 2019-02-05 14:35:31 UTC https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327784682 Blogging About Mental Health for Millennials Is Rewarding 17002451 https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327786298 2019-02-05 14:37:55 UTC https://padlet.com/17002451/xfsgcch8w1zx/wish/327786298