Blog your way to happiness

When the first blogs (short for web logs, or online diaries) were posted in late 1998, they were a novelty. Today, blogging is so ubiquitous that health professionals have begun investigating the health effects of blogging as an activity - concluding that blogging can foster critical thinking and feelings of connection.

While some commentators have characterised bloggers as lonely, desperate souls in search of validation for their meaningless lives, recent medical research has indicated that the opposite might actually be true: bloggers appear to be less lonely and feel more connected and supported than those who don't blog.

Swinburne University researcher James Baker, along with Swinburne colleague Professor Susan Moore, will soon publish a paper in the journal CyberPsychology & Behaviour which concludes that people who blog feel less isolated and more satisfied with their friendships.

Their research focused on new MySpace users and tracked their emotional states after two months of social networking and blogging.

It found that all respondents felt less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months of online social networking - but those who blogged felt better about their situation than those who didn't.

Researchers in the US have concluded that blogging also makes bloggers better thinkers. US neurologists Fernette and Brock Eide conducted a survey of the blogosphere and posted their results on their own site. The research began with the proposition that our mental activities actually cause changes in the structures of our brains -not only what we think, but how we think as well.

They decided to focus on blogging because it represents a significant new activity that might be changing the way people think, and concluded that blogging can be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive and associational thinking.

The sheer ease of being able to publish a blog online promotes spontaneous connections and fosters creativity. The neurologists also concluded that blogging promotes critical and analytical thinking because blogs, at their best, are rich in ideas and promote active exchange and critique. Continued...