Several news last week highlight the changes afoot in the health and medical blogosphere. Dr. RW has a roundup hinting that some of the earliest medical bloggers are signing off.

CasesBlog hits the nail on the head in the comments section, suggesting that the core issue is motivation for having a blog.

But I think there is a very important indicator at work here and it is the implications and consequences of anonymity. Indeed:

Many of the earliest medical bloggers started anonymously and you could see why. A few years ago the idea that blogging could become mainstream part of one's professional identity still seemed odd.

So many of the medical blogging pioneers focused on using blogs as an outlet for "ranting" about the issues they care about. Often in a way so candid that they would not want their colleagues to see, even though quite a few chose to do it transparently.

But while it could bring (anonymous) fame and personal satisfaction, ranting usually does not help pay the bills.

No wonder many of the early leaders had to re-evaluate their priorities and time committment. Does it spell the end of medblogosphere? NO!

Look no further than who is getting in. Many of the new arrivals blog openly, wholeheartedly embracing dynamic Internet presence into their personal, professional and corporate identities.

I think the use of blogs as transparent promotional outlets can go nowhere but up. To be sure, the rant-o-sphere is not going to disappear and the two approaches might intersect for some people.

But do we have numbers to support these bold statements?

Trustworthy research into the medical blogosphere is still lacking, though the usual hypesters (I am talking about Jupiter Research) are arriving at the scene, only to be debunked by bloggers who actually know what they are talking about, Toby and Fard.

As mentioned in passing at DiabetesMine, Fard and yours truly are working on in-depth healthcare blogger survey to really get these questions answered. We hope to have it ready soon enough.