I have read so many news articles lately that I want to blog about. I think I have enough items on my topic list for another 25 days!  Not to mention that I need to be mindful to keep my blogging time down to a minimum over this next 3 weeks – something I am finding difficult, so I really need to keep the breaks on my urge to blog.

So putting away current events for the moment until a time I can do justice in my comments about them, I decided to pose a question today: Why is blogging so addictive and do other bloggers find that this is so also?

Well the first thing I discovered as I explored this topic, is that there are a lot of folks out there convinced that it is an addition and that they may be an addict. 

The topic was well explored way back in 2004  in a New York Times article I found.

For Some, The Blogging Never Stops - New York Times

Why is it addictive?  Well, if you are up on your addiction theory there is a basic addictive personality, but I am going to leave that aside for the moment and comment on the rewards provided by blogging which (from my research) cause folks to keep pumping the stuff out.  Firstly, it the the belief that you are leaving a permanent mark on the world for all to see.  (Well, maybe it is a virtual mark on the real world, but it is a mark none the less).  Secondly, the lure of the following.  The delusion that there is an audience out there who is lapping the stuff up that you are spewing out.  Apparently, it is all the worse if this audience is not a delusion, because then the payback is even greater!  Lastly, we bloggers get joy out of reading our own blogs.   Somehow, there is joy to be had in experiencing our own creations.  OK, so lots of reasons to blog, but is it really a problem?  An addiction?

After reading a few blogs about blog addiction and noting that there were over 12 pages of google links, mostly to bloggers who had a subject line “I am addicted to blogging”, I found a quiz: Are you a blog addict?   Interestingly, you can be addicted to reading blogs or writing blogs or both - they seem to go hand in hand...  hmm, lately I have been reading more blogs, searching out ideas and seeing how other bloggers "do it"...  Maybe trouble!  Anyway, I took the quizz.  You might want to as well!

http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/blog_addiction

My score?
51%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

So, well, not so much for me, however I guess I need to keep an eye out that it doesn't get out of control!  If it does there is a 12 step program for BOD (Bogging Obsessive Disorder):

http://activerain.com/blogsview/22023/Betty-Ford-for-Bloggers

With that, just to prove I am not addicted, I shall end this blog now and go back to studying.  Got to run through those flash cards one more time before bed!