We Blog Therefore We Are

We blog therefore we are!

The importance of thinking before posting
 
Remember that shabby diary you used to stash in your underwear drawer years ago? You know the one - filled with confessions of lust for Marcus in your English class, then Scotty from Biology and Leonardo Di Caprio, naturally! Now imagine the contents published online for all to see. Makes you cringe more than spotting a grown man wearing socks and sandals doesn’t it? Funnily enough though, these days it seems to be the norm. Rather than bury their most intimate thoughts in an underwear drawer, many moody teenagers choose to blog publicly about them instead. And they might just be on to something.
 
“Blogging is a great way for people to show off and hone their skills, express themselves, and share information,” says Dr Alice Boyes, a clinical psychologist and former psychology lecturer at the University of Sussex, who now runs a private practice in Christchurch. A blogger herself, Dr Boyes believes there is therapeutic value in opening up online. As the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved, and blogging is doing just that for many people the world over. A Kiwi woman who can vouch for this is Jane Yee.
 
Currently the Promotions Manager for Universal Music, Jane is also a blogger, and an award-winning one at that. Her blog, The Girls’ Guide, hosted by Stuff.co.nz, won the Best Blog title at the 2011 Canon Media Awards after four years of writing for the news site.
 
“I was going through a bit of a rough time,” Jane says of the period when Stuff approached her. “I was looking for a distraction ... it felt very much like it was meant to be.” Little did Jane know that the project would lead to her rough time becoming very public.
 
With a broadcasting background Jane is no stranger to the spotlight. You might remember her from her days as a presenter for Music TV channel C4 (now FOUR). The pint-sized host has also fronted an advertising campaign for youth depression website thelowdown.co.nz. As someone who has battled with depression Jane was an ideal candidate, yet she admits that “People don't really know when someone fronts something like that how genuinely tied to the cause they are”. Cue the ‘depression entry’ as Jane refers to it; a blog post that generated one of the biggest responses she had ever had with The Girls’ Guide.  
 
“It felt like a coming-out on the blog because I was brutally honest about how badly it [depression] had affected me ... pushing that publish button was scary,” Jane admits. Though she has no regrets she’s pleased she took that step.
Amanda Bidwell