Blogging Death March

Man, did I resonate with the NY Times article entitled "In a World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop."

They reference Marc Orchant, a dear friend who blogged for ZDNET and passed away this year, Om Malik, who had heart issues this year, Russell Shaw, a profolic blogger who died from a heart attack recently and Arrington is quoted as saying, "At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen.” I know that Mike is not alone.

Says the article, "a growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly."

They talk about bloggers who complain of "weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet."

I sense that much of this is self-induced, even in my own case, yet the discipline is addictive, particularly if you loved writing going into the blogging game.

More: "The Internet has changed the nature of work, allowing people to set up virtual offices and work from anywhere at any time. That flexibility has a downside, in that workers are always a click away from the burdens of the office. For obsessive information workers, that can mean never leaving the house." Got that right. I don't think I have ever worked so hard in my life and yes, blogging is part of that never ending cycle.

But its not just getting words on a page. It's being part of the never ending online discussions, commenting on other blogs, participating in forums, twitter chat rooms and social media networks you get roped into and can't seem to leave. And this my friends is the never ending cycle for so many.