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Blogging Now Good for You, Still Bad for Some
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Mon Jun 09, 2008 01:01 PM
from the join-the-eggs-and-cholesterol-club dept.
from the join-the-eggs-and-cholesterol-club dept.
Several users have alerted us to a May Scientific American article that has been getting some attention more recently. Apparently, blogging is now good for you and, at least in this context, is the suggested reason for the explosion of blogging. This is quite the departure from some of the results we have seen in practice for more prolific bloggers.
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News: Writers Find Blogging To Be a Stressful Method of Reporting 199 comments
Andrew Feinberg points out a New York Times story about the stress put upon prolific bloggers to maintain a constant flow of content in order to satisfy both consumers and advertisers in the information age. When breaking a story first can generate thousands more page views and clicks, many bloggers are finding themselves chained to their computers, worrying that they'll miss something important if they step away. Quoting:
" 'I haven't died yet,' said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. The site has brought in millions in advertising revenue, but there has been a hefty cost. Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. 'At some point, I'll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen. This is not sustainable,' he said."
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Blogging Now Good for You, Still Bad for Some
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Blags! (Score:2, Funny)
bad for some? (Score:4, Funny)
Next week's news (Score:2, Funny)
journaling yes, blogging no (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:journaling yes, blogging no (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:journaling yes, blogging no (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:journaling yes, blogging no (Score:4, Funny)
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The difference (Score:5, Insightful)
In contrasts, bloggers who do it to vent out their frustration and share a part of their mind with the world, find it fulfilling.
Not quite a discovery if you think of it that way.
Re:The difference (Score:5, Funny)
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it's all about ego (Score:5, Interesting)
No, it's because most bloggers have the mistaken idea that like-minded souls will seek out and read their stuff, think hard about it and then post an insightful response which re-inforces their self-worth. As we all know, most blogs are a write-only medium, if they have any benefit to the writer it's purely cathartic as it lets the writer vent a bit.
> ... have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences,
If that was the case, sales of diaries would be huge. They aren't. People don;'t write for themselves, they write for their (imagined) audience.
Be careful, though... (Score:4, Funny)
Oblig. (Score:4, Funny)
It's all about me, Me, ME! (Score:5, Funny)
So whining about yourself on your own blog is good for you. But writing about something of interest to others isn't.
Well, it explains the success of Myspace.
"You are not trying. You are whining." Nigel to Andrea, "The Devil Wears Prada".
And... (Score:2, Funny)
blogging may be good for you (Score:2)
the word "blogosphere" is fatal in a 10 foot radius
Frustration, Knowledge and Reputation (Score:2, Insightful)
Written skills (Score:3, Informative)
Blogging improves your efficiency at work because you become a better communicator. Just don't bitch about the boss [cnn.com] in your blog (unless it's anonymous).
Writing helps me deal with my mental illness (Score:3, Insightful)
Getting sick led to me making a complete wreck of my life. I lost many friends, screwed up my education and my planned career as a scientist, lost what had been a good reputation.
For many years I tried to keep my illness a secret, but it was a terrible burden to bear. I finally went public with it in 1997, by writing a page about my manic depressive aspect [geometricvisions.com]. Click the link and you'll see that it got slashdotted.
But I had a much harder time facing or admitting to the schizophrenic aspect. I finally went public with that in 2003, in my essay Living with Schizoaffective Disorder [geometricvisions.com]. I also published it at Kuro5hin, where each of its three installments was featured on the front page.
It's not real obvious to most readers, but I avoided saying much about my own experience in the section on paranoia. Again it was very hard to face it. But again I finally went public with it in 2006 in My Deepest Fear [vancouverdiaries.com].
You'll understand why I had a hard time facing it if you read the essay. I was getting ready for an ambulance ride to the nuthouse when I wrote that, but, if you'll pardon my shameless self-promotion, I think it's one of the most vivid accounts of paranoia ever written.
I've written a lot of stuff having to do with mental illness, both my own and that of others. I finally compiled an index to it all [geometricvisions.com]. I printed hardcopies of most of it, and the stack of paper was over an inch thick!
Someday I plan to publish a dead-tree book about it. What's holding me back is finding the words to explain what I've learned from it all. I want to help others avoid it, to help others who suffer to get better, and to help their loved ones and caregivers to understand it.
One lesson I have learned though, is that the worst of the stigma against mental illness is the stigma that we mentally ill have against ourselves. Our shame for being sick is the main thing that keeps us sick. It's a disease, and not our choice. It's not something to be ashamed of.
As I write this, I've been employed steadily as a software engineer for over twenty years. For eight of those years I was self-employed as a software consultant. My title at my current job is Principal Software Engineer. I've achieved this success despite all the chaos that all those symptoms put me through.
I point this out because I sometimes get the impression that those who treat the mentally ill don't expect us to ever get better. Yes, it's difficult, and progress is painfully slow - but it is quite possible for anyone to overcome the worst madness and lead a happy, fulfilling life.
Works for Me (Score:1, Troll)
This Just In! (Score:2)
Well THAT makes sense... (Score:1)
"The frontal and temporal lobes, which govern speech -- no dedicated writing center is hardwired in the brain -- may also figure in. For example, lesions in Wernicke's area, located in the left temporal lobe, result in excessive speech and loss of language comprehension. People with Wernicke's aphasia speak in gibberish and often write constantly. In light of these traits, Flaherty speculates that some activity in this area could foster the urge to blog."
(Emphasis mine.)
Expressive Writing /= Blogging (Score:3, Interesting)
Worse, the study had a nearly 50% drop-out rate, meaning a good minority of people didn't have any interest in expressive writing. And with a small N, the results are hardly generalizable.
Shame on SciAm.
More here:
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2008/06/09/scientific-american-lets-stretch-research-to-make-it-sexy/ [psychcentral.com]
Re:Blogging is my life. (Score:1, Flamebait)
Says the person with so little of their own that they feel the need to drag others down for simply expressing themselves.
~Dan
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