BLOGGERS

The phenomenon of blogging has been around long enough for writers and pollsters to study it. In July, Pew/Internet and American Life Project published a study called

“BLOGGERS: A portrait of the internet’s new storytellers.”

You can find the full report (pdf) here. Take a quick gander at their findings below. Do you see anything there that surprises you?

• The blogging population is young, evenly split between women and men, and racially diverse.
• Broadband is the norm among bloggers, as is going online several times each day.
• Bloggers are avid online news readers, particularly political news.
• Bloggers prefer balanced sources of news.
• Newspapers, television, and radio are also part of bloggers’ daily news diet.
• Bloggers are highly engaged with tech-based social interaction.
• For most, blogging is a hobby, not an activity that consumes their lives.
• Blogging is usually the first foray into authorship; bloggers blog to express themselves creatively and share personal experiences.
• Most bloggers do not confine themselves to one topic.
• Personal experiences are the most popular topic, but politics, entertainment, and sports are also frequently discussed.
• Personal experiences provide the most inspiration for bloggers.
• Half of bloggers keep one blog and most do not share authorship with anyone else.
• More than half of bloggers use a pseudonym.
• Only a third of bloggers think their blog is a form of journalism.