Blogging motivations of women suffering from infertility

Purpose.The study reports the content analysis of twenty infertility blogs that examined the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of the women writing these blogs. Intrinsic motivation results in doing something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable and extrinsic motivation results in doing something for its instrumental value. Method.The sample of 400 posts was analysed using the thematic analysis approach.This is a process for encoding qualitative information that facilitates identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns or themes within data. Findings. Infertility bloggers were motivated to blog by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The main intrinsic motivation revealed was self-expression. Bloggers detailed the various ways infertility affects their identities, careers and marriages. The two extrinsic motivations identified were the coping mechanisms bloggers use to manage their struggle with infertility and the social elements of blogging. Conclusion. Understanding the motivations behind blogging is important as earlier studies have found that blogging has a positive impact on the bloggers' well-being. This study presents an example of the use of social media as a coping mechanism to deal with a life crisis by creating a secure and protected personal space on the Internet and as a medium to change societal views on meaning of family and marriage.