{"id":5070,"date":"2008-04-06T21:39:32","date_gmt":"2008-04-06T21:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/04\/blogging-the-digital-sweatshop.html"},"modified":"2008-04-06T21:39:32","modified_gmt":"2008-04-06T21:39:32","slug":"blogging-the-digital-sweatshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/04\/blogging-the-digital-sweatshop.html","title":{"rendered":"Blogging, the digital sweatshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, do you think we should start a union<\/a>?<\/p>\n

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece \u2014 not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.
\nA growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.
\nOf course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.
\nTwo weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
\nOther bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.
\n[…]
\nBlogging has been lucrative for some, but those on the lower rungs of the business can earn as little as $10 a post, and in some cases are paid on a sliding bonus scale that rewards success with a demand for even more work.
\n[…]
\nBlogging has been lucrative for some, but those on the lower rungs of the business can earn as little as $10 a post, and in some cases are paid on a sliding bonus scale that rewards success with a demand for even more work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wow! Who knew that tech blogging could be so stressful? At least they don’t have to deal with angry lefties who get mad at you for beating up their candidate and calling him messiah. I guess trying to stay ahead of the curve can be incredibly stressful. Since I’m not a reporter I really don’t care if I’m the last to blog about an issue, so not as much stress (except when guys come here and tell me to shut up and find a husband).
\nIt’s a good thing I’m in this for the love and not the money \ud83d\ude42
\n(via<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, do you think we should start a union? They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece \u2014 not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home. 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