Don't kill the blogger
If blogging is tough on one's equanimity and consequently one's overall health, then posting comments in response to published articles must be risky too. Imagine the elevated blood pressure some of those irate critics must experience as they furiously type away. They could be headed for aneurysms, strokes or lengthy sessions of beating their heads against walls.
I probably shouldn't be doing this. I take my vitamins every day, go to the gym and eat healthy. I avoid second-hand smoke, wear my seatbelt and stay out of dark alleys at night. But here I am blogging. Tempting fate. Risking my life.
Bloggers - OK, maybe not once-in-a-blue-moon posters like me, but real, serious bloggers - are living on the edge, suggests Matt Richtel. It's harrowing having to come up with all those ideas and translate them into words. The hunger for cyber scoops robs bloggers of sleep. The endless hunt for eyeballs is a merciless slog.
The consequences can be dire: Two bloggers have died of heart attacks recently and a third had a close call. Three out of - I don't know, 14 million or so. You do the numbers.