Death by Blogging?

The New York Times ran an article this Sunday that turns the idea of blogger-as-slacker on its head. It exposes the often stressful world of 24/7 blogging, and even links the practice to some recent deaths:

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.

The Times is careful to point out that there's no official diagnosis pegging these deaths to the deceased's careers. But the article does shine light on the strain and anxiety that go along with our fast-paced Internet culture. Blogs cover every topic under the sun, but as reporter Matt Richtel points out, "One of the most competitive categories is blogs about technology developments and news. They are in a vicious 24-hour competition to break company news, reveal new products and expose corporate gaffes...Speed can be of the essence. If a blogger is beaten by a millisecond, someone else’s post on the subject will bring in the audience, the links and the bigger share of the ad revenue."

Click here to read the story.

(Photo by Yme Bosma)