Is the net killing any of us?

George Wade (apparently) - 02:21pm Apr 7, 2008 PST
via email

Is writing this blog killing me?
The New York Times reports two deaths that may have been caused by
blogging.
April 7, 2008 12:00 PM

<http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2008/04/
is_writing_this_blog_killing_m.html>
Before you post a stinging comment that the chance would be a fine
thing, take your hands away from the keyboard and sit on them. For
your own sake.
The New York Times reports that two men were so obsessed with
internet activity, their health was fatally damaged.
Of course the NYT has no proof that the two men - aged 60 and 50 -
died because of the internet, or years slaving in the "digital-era
sweatshop", as the paper calls it.
But its case is this:
A growing workforce of home-office labourers and entrepreneurs, armed
with computers and smart phones and wired to the hilt, are toiling
under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-
clock internet economy that demands a steady stream of news and comment.
Mike Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, bolsters the
Times' case. He acknowledges he is not yet dead, but says he has
gained 13kg (30lb) in the last three years and developed a severe
sleeping disorder. He foresees a nervous breakdown sometime soon.
Going on to his blog this morning, the man does seem to have
problems. His internet went down over the weekend, leaving him bereft:
I've been running around to various cafes and friend's houses to
steal bandwidth and try to be online at least a little.
Mike's too far gone for green tea.
Is it surprising? Some bloggers are paid by the post, and by the hits
that post gets. And if you don't get hits, you get fired. Just look
at Maggie Shnayerson's defenestration from Gawker.
In an editorial, the Telegraph (the only UK newspaper to pick up on
the NYT story) says that since "the most successful [blogs] are
redefining our public life", those who have lost their health in
their determination to sate their readers' interests are "martyrs to
a worthy cause".
Whoa there, Telegraph. Before you dispatch your online staff to their
deaths, is the New York Times right? Bloggers: how would you cope if
your internet connection went down for a day? In answering this, type
slowly.