BlogOholics Anonymous: Are you an over-poster?

It's Saturday and I've got all my limbs and a few of my whits left.  That's a 'dem fine' week in my book!  (My Narnia peeps will get the 'dem fine' reference.)

Funny music videos aside, I've got something very serious to discuss with you.  Are you a blogOholic?  It's OK to admit it, this is a safe zone.  Anything discussed within this post, stays within this post.  Denial isn't healthy, after all.

What if you're unsure?  No worries, there are signs of blog dependency:

• Have you changed your blog design/theme more than 3 times in the last 3 minutes?
• Is Google Reader your homepage?
• Do you have more followers than you have money?
• Do you determine the day of the week based upon your blog schedule?
• Have you ever missed a wedding or funeral to write a blog post?
• Would you name a child after your most loyal follower? (ShagRat78 has a nice ring to it ...)
• Have you ever offered up your soul as a blog contest prize?
• Is your self-worth determined by the number of blog comments you receive?
• Do you have more blog accounts than friends?
• (feel free to keep this going in the comments)

If any of the above apply, you might have a blog problem.  

Perhaps the most serious indication of blog dependency is a condition known as Over-Posting.  It occurs when a blogger posts more content than readers can keep up with.  A typical over-poster will update their blog 7-15 times a week, and in severe cases more than 30.  Over-posters are notoriously clever, often disguising their frequent blog updates as required participation in various 'blogfests' or  stating that, 'something happened that I HAD to share with my readers'.   

In particularly desperate cases, the over-poster will give cute names to each day of the week in an attempt to validate their need to flood the internet with their content.  You may see the following tags accompany their daily blog updates:  'MEGA-MONDAY!', 'TIP-TUESDAY', 'WILD-WEDNESDAY', 'THRIFTY-THURSDAY', 'FABULOUS-FRIDAY', 'SUDDENLY-SATURDAY' or 'SUPERFLUOUS-SUNDAY'.  Regardless of the title, each post is a new mask for the shameful self-loathing and anguish they feel for indulging in their own illness.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?  First, let them know that  you care.  Reach out to the over-poster, and let them know that you're always there to listen--but only at 3 pre-determined times each week.  More than that, and you risk becoming an enabler.  Second, help the over-poster see the value in non-blog activities.  Perhaps you could lend them a good book, recommend a humorous television program or show them sunlight.  Lastly, you can resist feeding their habits by not-commenting on inane posts.  Sure, you may feel the urge to say "How fun!" or "LOL" at the picture of funny cats they just posted, but you're really only encouraging their behavior.  

If we work together, we can end over-posting.

This message brought to by Bloggers Against Blog Abuse (BABA) and readers like you.

ALMOST SERIOUS NOTE FROM EJ:

Clearly this is meant in jest, and frankly I've done most of these things myself.  What prompted this bit of frivolity is that I've noticed that if I leave my blog posts up for a couple of days in between posts, I get more comments.  There are undoubtedly numerous factors that contribute to this, the most likely being that it gives folks who use their readers to follow blogs the time to catch up to me.  Regardless of the reason, it got me to thinking about how often we post, and that maybe less is more.

What do you think?  Do you limit the number of posts you do each week?  Do you get more comments if you leave a post up longer?  Just curious...

Have a great rest of your weekend!

~EJW~