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Blogging Now Good for You, Still Bad for Some
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.
Bloggers who want to blog to maintain a status (i.e. fame, fortune, etc) find blogging stressful. Of course it's stressful, it's become a JOB!
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.
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.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Actually some people out there feel a sense of comfort when they post their private journals and then have a stranger be understanding and accepting. They feel as if they aren't alone in this world.
Physics is imagination in a straight jacket. ~John Moffat
Journalling isn't always good. Just ask Hans Reiser.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Blogs are good for you? What about those people who died in a blog accident, you insensitive clod?
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".