Blogging the Blues Away – Why Blogging is good for you

BBC’s Click Online show this week reports on a study out of Australia that shows that just 2 months of regular blogging leaves you feeling less depressed and less isolated than before.

I recall a similar report from CNET emerging a couple of years ago in which nearly half of 600 bloggers surveyed said that blogging was a form of “therapy” for them.

Why I blog

For myself having blogged for 3 years or more now, I find blogging a useful habit – something that regularly helps focus my attention on a single topic and thus gain some clarity when my mind is whirring with a dozen different things. Oh, and it occasionally provides me with an easy way of venting my rage too! Not at all dissimilar from the practice of keeping a written diary, I guess, but rather less personal!

I regularly receive feedback on my blog by e-mail and comment, and it often serves as a useful tool to keep friends and colleagues posted on what I’ve been up-to. But most of all blogging has been a very useful tool to help connect me with dozens of different people across the world that I may never have had the opportunity to communicate with otherwise. Being a “people person” I also still get a buzz when strangers walk up to me at events and introduce themselves with “I read your blog” – ego stroke or not, it works for me. 🙂

The downside to blogging

The flip-side of blogging can be the simple fact that by putting your opinion or thoughts out there in a public forum, you’re bound to piss somebody off – which sometimes results in you receiving less than welcome and none too constructive feedback. I’ve experienced this personally, but on the whole my opinion is rarely controversial and my blog not read far and wide. Somebody like Vlad, who often puts his sharp opinion out there on his very popular blog Vladville, seems to comfortably deal with any negative flack he receives as a result of being thick skinned and very assured of his own opinion I guess – something I could learn from!

That said, others find enough is enough. I was sad to hear of the end of one of my favourite blogs this week, that written by Microsoft’s own Dare Obasanjo – aka Carnage4Life. I’m sure Dare has his reasons for ending his blog writing, in fact he toyed with doing so a couple of years ago, but it’s still sad to know that you’ll not hear anymore from that person.

Conclusion

So there you have it, like everything in life blogging has it’s plusses and negatives. For the moment at least, I’m going to continue to put my opinion out there through Tubblog – but please do be kind with your feedback…. I’m a very sensitive soul. 😉