Julia
Posting #1
Health
Blogging as Therapy for Teenagers by Pamela Paul
New York Times, January 27 2012
505 words
MAIN IDEAS:
Recent studies have shown that blogging may be beneficial to teenagers. Diary-keeping as always been encouraged as therapeutic, but in this world of new technology the advantages of therapeutic blogging are now being studied. It seems that blogging can be even better for a teen than diary-keeping was.
Two groups of teens were assigned either to blog about their social difficulties with one group allowing comments to their blog. Two other groups were assigned to blog about anything they chose, with one group allowing comments to their blog. Two other control groups kept diaries or did nothing at all. The results showed that those who blogged and allowed comments showed the great improvements in mood. Apparently, when teens blogged about their stress levels, commenters exhibited lots of support, which in turn raised the spirits of the bloggers.
Bloggers who did not participate in the study also added that reading comments on their posts also helps them relax. This goes to show that blogging can be therapeutic in the real virtual world as well.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, it seems that blogging is the new diary-keeping -- online. Diaries have always provided a place for teens to spill out their emotions, which helps take the stress away. However, blogging seems to be even more beneficial because of the option to allow comments. People who allow comments usually get support from the commenters, letting them know that they are not alone. It also helps open others' eyes to troubles that someone else is going through.
OPINION:
I completely agree that blogging is therapeutic. Now that we have moved past the diary-keeping-age, it's time to start blogging. I think people who write diaries sometimes wish others could see what they write. It's very human to want someone to understand what you're going through, and blogging is a great way to make that happen.
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ReplyDeleteDiary-keeping, whether written or digital, is totally therapeutic because one is talking about their feelings. The study that was performed to see if blogging was helpful to teens was unnecessary, because anyone with half a brain could see that talking about someone's problems is beneficial to their sanity. They did not need to set up two groups to blog about social issues and have people comment on them. However, studies like this one shed a light on how to better help teens deal with their problems.
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