Good News For Bloggers!

There is good news for bloggers. According to an article on the Age (‘Bloggers feel more connected’, 4 March 2008), “blogging may help people feel happier and more satisfied with their friends”. Psychologist James Baker and Professor Susan Moore from  Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne conducted a research based on two surveys, and the results were published in the latest edition of the journal CyberPsychology & Behaviour. The first survey asked 134 new users of MySpace ‘whether or not they intended to blog’. The researchers found out that ‘people who intended to blog were more psychologically distressed than those who didn’t intend to blog.’. These people were more depressed, anxious and stressed. Two months later, a second survey compared ‘those who had blogged to those who hadn’t’. The results showed that ‘the bloggers were happier about the number of friends they had, both online and face-to-face, and were more likely to reach out to these friends for help’. Psychologist James Baker said ‘They [the bloggers] felt more socially integrated,” and “They felt that their friends were a better fit and they connected better.”

www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/03/04/1204402430340.html