Blogging Makes You Healthier, Smarter, More Attractive…

Ok, so maybe this study only actually confirms blogging’s positive effect on social health. But my personal, unscientific study confirms the intelligence and attractiveness effects as well. From the legitimate article:

Blogging can help you feel less isolated, more connected to a community and more satisfied with your friendships, both online and face-to-face, new research has found.

The research, from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, found after two months of regular blogging, people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who didn’t blog.

So there you have it–we bloggers aren’t all riding a Mountain Dew high in our parents’ basements. Thanks to Elizabeth, (who really needs to update her blog…or just start writing for Tropophilia) for pointing this out.

Image [which has nothing to do with blogging--at least directly--but was far too hilarious not to post] under creative commons license is used, courtesy of flickr user pipeapple…and the force.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

- "Bloggers: Responsible To Their Readers First, or To Themselves?", posted by Jarred on April 28, 2008

- "Schoolhouse Blog?", posted by Jarred on April 24, 2008

- "Round-Up: What’s So Special About Blogging?", posted by Jarred on May 1, 2008

- "Will You Put Your Life In Google’s Hands?", posted by Jarred on March 1, 2008

- "Facebook Chat: Social Networking Comes Home", posted by Jarred on April 15, 2008

Sammy

To paraphrase the boys from Oxford, blogging makes me un-fitter, unhappier, and less productive ... well, maybe just the last part.

And yet, it's a marketable skill in the world of politics. And a way to raise insane amounts of money. When we got this video up on the front page of liberal blog leader DailyKos, fundraising jumped up significantly. But that was 2006. Most political operatives have discovered that there are actual people on the Internet ... meaning that the market is very crowded. New Candidates show up as often as new online volunteers. Also, aside from the fundraising game, good old fashioned phone calls are still the best way to reach potential volunteers. As a current blogger/activist, my holy grail, my grand unified theory of politics, is to find the next big thing before anyone else does. Ideas? I don't want a candidate to twitter, but after meetup, eventful, facebook, YouTube, the blogs, flickr, and so on, what does Web 2.0 have for the politico?

Jarred Taylor

man, I leave the blog to Taylor for one weekend and he's already posting nutso photos. Oh wait... I guess I've posted a random dog photo too ... I'd link to it but I'm on vacation.

iPwned with the iPhone,
jrod

P.s. Serious replies to Sam and Jez when I get back, thanks for commenting!

Rachel

Huh! Interesting. I'd be interested in seeing such a study done on writing at large. Writing anything implies, even if just indirectly, that someone will read it, which definitely inspires warm and fuzzy feelings all around.