As medical information becomes increasingly available and individuals take a more active role in managing their personal health, it is essential for scholars to better understand the general public's information-seeking behavior. The study reported here explores the use of the World Wide Web to seek health information in a contemporary information-media environment. Drawing from uses and gratifications theory and the comprehensive model of health information seeking, perceptions of traditional information sources (e.g., mass media, one's health care provider, etc.) are posited to predict use of the Web to seek health information and perceptions of information acquired from searches. Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS; N = 3982) were analyzed to test study hypotheses. Trust in information-oriented media, entertainment-oriented media, and one's health care provider all predicted Web use behavior and perceptions. The implications of the findings for research on information seeking and the role of the Web in patient empowerment are discussed.

The study reported here explored the social dimension of health-related blogs by examining blogging as a means to marshal social support and, as a result, achieve some of the health benefits associated with supportive communication. A total of 121 individuals who author a blog dedicated to their experience living with a specific health condition completed the study questionnaire. The number of blog posts made by respondents and proportion of posts with reader comments were positively associated with perceived social support from blog readers. The relationship between blog reader support and two outcomes related to well-being depended upon the support available in bloggers' strong-tie relationships with family and friends. Consistent with the social compensation (i.e., “poor get richer”) perspective, blog reader support was negatively associated with loneliness and positively associated with personal growth when support in strong-tie relationships was relatively lacking.

Although incivility is an increasing concern among scholars and the public, explanations for this phenomenon sometimes overlook the role of computer-mediated co