by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: August 01, 2009

The negative side of blogging is not something which many who love to blog will often consider. It is likely that serial bloggers will see only the positive sides of blogging, such as earning money from the process and getting their thoughts and opinions out to the wider Internet community at large. Like everything else which has so many positive aspects, however, blogging does have its darker, negative sides, the existence of which can not be disputed.

The negative side of blogging which is most likely to apply is the effective addiction which can develop to the process itself. There are thousands of serial bloggers, who spend every available opportunity posting to or updating one of their blogs. This may sound like a harmless addiction to many but what they have to examine is what else is being missed in the greater experience that is life by devoting so much time to blogging. It could be anything from normal, offline social interaction to necessary physical exercise which is not being taken that essentially suffers due to the compulsion with blogging. Anyone who suspects that they or a loved one are succumbing to this negative side of blogging should very carefully re-examine their priorities in life or encourage their loved one to do so.

There is a negative side of blogging which can be irritating and even extremely concerning. This is where a blog attracts the attention of someone who likes to give what is usually anonymous abuse out over the Internet. This can be in the shape of comments made regarding blog posts or even e-mailing the blogger where this facility is made available. The best way to deal with such instances is to ensure that all blog comments are subject to approval prior to appearing on the blog and to simply delete and ignore any inappropriate e-mails. Getting involved with such an abuser is only likely to make the problem worse in the long term.

The negative side of blogging would also have to include the frustrations which can develop from the process. This would be where - despite the best, informed efforts of the blogger - a blog simply fails to attract the required levels of traffic to become, "Sticky," or the traffic levels which have been painstakingly built up start to fall off due to perhaps infrequent updates. Where a blogger is used to success with blogging or knows others who are successful, this can be an extremely annoying occurrence. The unfortunate reality is, too, that the only solution may be to abandon the blog and start over.

Although blogging therefore can be an extremely enjoyable and lucrative pastime, there are most definitely negative sides which have to be considered.

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