Do you suffer from Blog Addiction?

I'd love for all the McReaders to give Jen of the Daily Mish Mash a big warm welcome to the McStage!

I've been reading her blog for a long time now and sometimes I wonder if perhaps Jen and I were twins separated at birth. After reading this post, I realized even if we aren't, I'm totally telling people that we are.

(What amazes me even more is that she did not mention Ryan Gosling even ONE time in this post.)



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My husband recently made the comment to me the other day that I've become a little addicted to blogging. Since I am a reflective person by nature, I did a little soul searching and realized that he is probably right.

After further reflection, I have come up with a guide that I hope will be helpful to you as you try to identify where you are on the Blog Addiction Spectrum.


Use - The ability to experiment with blogging without the experience of any negative consequences.


- You start a blog. The hobby seems harmless enough and fun creative outlet.


-You take a few pictures, write a few paragraphs about a topic that is interesting to you.


-You may even find a couple of new friends online.


-Plus it is something you can do in your spare time when the kids are napping or otherwise occupied.


-You read other blogs for entertainment and inspiration but only when you are finished doing all of the things on your to do list for the day.



Misuse - When a person experiences negative consequence from the blog it is clearly misuse.


-Quickly, you move onto this stage. You spend hours on the computer trying to catch up on all your favorite blogs.


-You begin receiving comments on your blog and you are surprised by how much pleasure can be found from reading them. You may even beg your friends and family to leave a comment just so that the number will grow from one to two digits.


-You sign up for every social networking site available to get more readers. You may even stumble yourself on occasion.


-You no longer just experience life as a normal human being, because you are constantly trying to determine whether or not the things that happen to you daily are bloggable.


-You carry a camera everywhere and people look at you funny when you take pictures of your food.


-You learn all the blogging lingo (like memes, wfmw, blogiversary, and doogs) and your heroes are no longer great leaders, pioneers and inventors, they are Dooce, Bossy, and Boomama.



Abuse - Continued use of blogging in spite of negative consequences.


-Laundry is left in the washer, dinner is burnt on the stove and the kids don't recognize you unless you are illuminated by the light of the computer screen.


-You are woken up at night by great post ideas and the possibility that someone in another time zone may have left you a comment while you were asleep.


-Comments are like crack and you do whatever you can to get another fix.


-You stop actually talking to people because anything they need to know can be found on your blog anyway. Plus, talking takes away precious blogging time.


-While driving, you are so busy composing a new post in your head that you almost get into an accident or go through a red light.


-You no longer have time for reading actual books and you probably can't focus on anything longer than a page at a time anyway.


-You stop watching the news or reading the paper because who cares what's going on in the world when all you need to know is how many people have read your blog today and how they found you. Sitemeter is the new CNN.



Dependency/Addiction - You are a compulsive blogger regardless of adverse or negative consequences.


-You no longer get dressed or comb your hair because why bother when you aren't seeing anyone IRL (you also know what IRL means).


-You are a full fledged comment junkie. You check them incessantly. You get the shakes if you are away from your dashboard for too long.


-You are having trouble remembering your kids' names because you are getting them confused with everyone else's in the blogosphere (you also use the word blogosphere IRL and people think you have completely gone off the deep end because you are speaking in tongues).


- Your family stages an intervention and you run out of the room screaming, "I am not an addict. I can give up blogging anytime I want. I just don't want stop. I'm not hurting anyone. I'll stop tomorrow."


Don't ask me how to break the blog addiction cycle because I have no idea. Does anyone know of a 12 Step Program out there? Is there a bloggers rehab facility that I could attend for 28 days?

-Jen at the Daily Mish Mash
(Guest posting for McMommy)