A few weeks ago someone told me to check out a blog she had read. She said something along the lines of: “You should check it out! I realize it’s just a bunch of negativity and swearing, but somehow I find it therapeutic.”. She didn’t strike me as the typical “blog reader” type (whatever that is), so I checked it out.
Sure enough, it was just a bunch of profanity-laced rantings of a 20-something year old. That was essentially all the content of the blog: complaining, swearing, whining, more swearing and more complaining. I can’t remember the site now, but believe me…it’s not difficult to find [boring] rant blogs. Don’t get me wrong: a rant every once in a while is great and often hilarious, but I tend to grow weary of blogs that are constant rants. I wondered how in the world anyone would find this therapeutic!? Reading this kind of stuff would make me miserable, but maybe that’s just me!
I thought about it and it would seem that for some people, seeing others just as miserable as they are, makes them feel better about themselves. I then realized something else: I’ve always assumed that people reading my blog would feel happy and/or uplifted because I’m generally positive. However, is it possible that my blog makes some people miserable? I think it might…
Can someone explain the psychology behind the “Misery Loves Company” thing?