The New York Times is convinced that the world of web comment is one of 24/7 stress.
Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
Other bloggers 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.
To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.
The pressure even gets to those who work for themselves — and are being well-compensated for it.
"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."
I am tempted to say life's not like that in Australia, but what I will say is life's not like that on the NSW North Coast.
For most of us blogging is tempered with various combinations of family, work, community volunteering, gardening, fishing, reading, walking, crossword puzzles, music, films, t.v., chinwags over coffee, shopping, creating art or crafts, home renovations, beer with mates, football, cricket, swimming and just plain lazing about in a little piece of paradise.
But then, I suspect that this is the case for most Australian bloggers. After all it only takes a nanosecond on the Net before pollies like Liberals Senator George Brandis offer up pure dross like Rudd didn't respect the Queen enough: Brandis demanding a prime ministerial 'necking'.
Hats off to Ken L. over at Road to Surfdom for alerting the southern hemisphere to the dangers of blogging with his post on the subject.
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