Bob McCarty Writes

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, reported Monday that blogging helps you feel less isolated and more satisfied with your friendships.

Concern about the positive and negative effects of blogging prompted Swinburne University of Technology graduate student James Baker to explore the psychological variables of people who blog. Along with Professor Susan Moore, he has written two papers exploring the psychological benefits of blogging.

The first compares the mental health of people who use social networking sites such as MySpace who plan to blog with those who don’t plan to blog.

In 2006 Baker randomly surveyed users of the popular MySpace social networking site about their intention to keep a blog. He messaged 600 new users in Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., directing them to an online survey. Of the 134 people who completed the questionnaire; 84 intended to blog and 50 didn’t.

“We found that those who planned to blog were more distressed and had more negative emotional feelings than those who didn’t plan to blog,” Baker said. They were seeking social support and were not satisfied with their current social interaction and friendships.”

These people liked to use talking with others as a way of coping with stress.

“Keeping a blog is a bit like writing a diary,” Baker said. “It helps people vent their emotions, talk about their feelings and problems. The difference is that while a diary is private, blogging invites feedback from others.”

After two months, the group was surveyed again with 59 responding. Those who had kept a blog felt more socially connected and were more satisfied with their social support and friendships than those who didn’t blog.

All respondents, whether or not they blogged, reported feeling 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.

The first paper ‘Distress, Coping and Blogging: Comparing New Myspace Users by Their Intention to Blog’ appeared in the journal CyberPsychology & Behaviour.