Blog Psychology

Blogging is fun, but it does have a dark side. Like everything, remember to blog in moderation. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement after you have an audience. Performing for your readers is such a great experience that you want to repeat again and again.

This is where blogger addiction or burnout kick in. Everyone jokes about blogger burnout, but it is real, if not taken seriously. Symptoms may include

• Compulsion to post several times a day

• Conduct all social interactions online with new blog friends

• Realization that you live most of the time in your head, thinking of new, fresh material for your blog

• Spend most of your work hours surfing the Web or working on your blog, failing to effectively manage your time

• Start engaging in feuds with annoying people who leave comments on a regular basis or pick fights with fellow bloggers

• Obsessively check your site visit statistics, comments, or trackback pings

• Resentful feelings for your blog, which results in posts that grow increasingly bitter, cryptic, or hostile

When you recognize these patterns it's important to take a break from blogging. Your loyal readers will understand. You can let them know that you are on a hiatus or that real life obligations prevent you from regularly updating the site.

It's a bad idea to disappear abruptly or delete your site. You may have established relationships with people who will worry that something bad has happened to you if you disappear without closure. For this reason, keep the blog lines open.