Death by blogging!

Can blogging actually kill you? The New York Times seems to think so!

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.

Of course, there's no actual proof that their deaths were causing by blogging, but they both died from heart attacks and the article wonders if the stress of professional blogging may have contributed. I don't quite agree with the conclusion that the article some to and I think that anyone who allows themselves to suffer with stress and work too much is not thinking about their health irrespective of your job. After all, once you're dead, what are you going to do with all that money you earned?

As you may have noticed, if I'm not in the mood for blogging, I don't do it. Sometimes I just don't feel in the mood, or I'm simply too busy. I have to admit that I do feel a twinge of guilt about it when I don't blog, but do I stress out over it? Absofuckinglutely not. Then again, I don't make any money from this as I write for fun, not profit. I don't even have adverts. It's been suggested to me and I've thought about it, but I find all that very distracting whenever I'm reading someone else's blog so I've resisted doing it so far and I've still no plans to do so.

Anyway, to put death by blogging into context, Radar helpfully compiled a list of other dangerous professions resulting in death:

Coalition forces in Iraq: 4,015 (since 3/19/03)
Law enforcement: 186 (2007)
Construction: 1,192 (2005)
Transportation and warehousing: 885 (2005)
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting: 715 (2005)
Commercial Fishing in Alaska: 641 (1990-2006)
Blogging: 2 (to date)

Makes blogging from home seem kinda safe, doesn't it?