Table 5.

Motivations for starting the blog.

Themes identified		Quotes
Theme 3.1: Reflection		“Mostly to sort out my thoughts.”
		“I thought it’d help me deal with the pain, by releasing it emotionally.”
		“The suicide of a friend.”
Theme 3.2: Communication		“I wanted a forum where I could talk honestly about the symptoms I was experiencing.”
		“Need for support and to streamline communications.”
		“I wanted to be able to share what was happening to me with friends and family but knew that I wouldn’t have the time/energy to communicate with everyone individually.”
Theme 3.3: Connection with others
	A. Loneliness, isolation	“Needing to find others who lived in chronic pain so I don’t feel so alone in my pain.”
		“I felt alone and isolated. And then when I started getting comments I realized I was helping other people cope.”
		“Share our reality with others.”
	B. Education, knowledge sharing	“Goal is to contribute in whatever way I can to knowledge about chronic pain as a real disease with real physical consequences.”
		“Share knowledge on health advocacy.”
		“I blog to not only talk about things I am going thru but hopefully to help others as well.”