Welcome to the final post in our series of blog posts highlighting some of the major lessons we learned from our conversations with Pregnets bloggers.
Lesson #4: Blogging can increase your sense of support from people in your life
In our last post, we began talking about the social benefits of blogging. Bloggers appreciated feeling a connection with their peers in the Pregnets community, including fellow bloggers. In this final post on the benefits of blogging, we will discuss the support that Pregnets bloggers received from the people in their lives – a partner, family members, friends, and/or Pregnets staff. Most bloggers shared that they had at least one form of support in their life throughout the blogging process. This support came in the form of encouraging the blogger throughout the writing process, offering her constructive feedback on blog posts before they were published, and offering praise as she made progress in her quit journey.
One blogger shared a positive experience from her interactive writing process with her partner: “I had a lot of input from him…he has a lot to say about what should be put in my blogs and he has read over a few of them and he said that they were good.” Similarly, another blogger expressed how the writing process helped strengthen her relationship with her partner because it provided an opportunity for bonding: “I think it helped my relationship with my partner. Because he was able to, you know, read the blogs with me and you know, give me some ideas – it had created an environment for us to have a more open discussion about it.” Other bloggers felt support from their family members and friends during the writing process. Bloggers’ family members were asking for a link to each written post and expressed enjoyment (and pride!) with reading the blog. One blogger shared, “My mum was really happy to see that I was [blogging].”
Bloggers with a smaller support network valued the feedback they received from Pregnets staff during the writing process: “…everything that was being told you know, ‘oh we’re so proud of you that you’ve come this far and that you’re still writing and that you’re still doing everything that you said you will do in the first blog’. And it was – it was great. [The staff] even had suggestions for things to help. It was – it was amazing.” They appreciated the non-judgmental nature of Pregnets staff and felt a boost in confidence after connecting with staff about each blog post.
Social support is one of the most important ingredients to quitting smoking for good. Personal support networks, public support groups, and even supportive blogging communities can all be wonderful sources of inspiration and encouragement during and beyond your quit journey.
We hope our last few posts about the experiences of Pregnets bloggers were useful and motivated our readers to consider a creative outlet for your thoughts during your quit journey. This outlet could be in the form of a personal journal, written letters/emails to your future self, a public blog, or something else! If you have other suggestions for creative outlets, please share them in the comments section 🙂
However you choose to express yourself, we hope you have a positive experience! Best of luck and feel free to share your progress with us here or on the Pregnets discussion board!