A new, national phone survey of bloggers finds that most are focused on describing their personal experiences to a relatively small audience of readers and that only a small proportion focus their coverage on politics, media, government, or technology. The ease and appeal of blogging is inspiring this new group of writers and creators to share their voices with the world.
Related surveys by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that the blog population has grown to about 12 million American adults, or about 8% of adult internet users and that the number of blog readers has jumped to 57 million American adults, or 39% of the online population.
Some of the key findings in a new report issued by the Pew Internet Project titled "Bloggers":
54% of bloggers say that they have never published their writing or media creations anywhere else; 44% say they have published elsewhere.
54% of bloggers are under the age of 30.
Women and men have statistical parity in the blogosphere, with women representing 46% of bloggers and men 54%.
76% of bloggers say a reason they blog is to document their personal experiences and share them with others.
64% of bloggers say a reason they blog is to share practical knowledge or skills with others.
When asked to choose one main subject, 37% of bloggers say that the primary topic of their blog is "my life and experiences."
Other topics ran distantly behind: 11% of bloggers focus on politics and government; 7% focus on entertainment; 6% focus on sports; 5% focus on general news and current events; 5% focus on business; 4% on technology; 2% on religion, spirituality or faith; and additional smaller groups who focus on a specific hobby, a health problem or illness, or other topics.
The report also said that bloggers are heavy users of the internet. Forty-four percent of bloggers have taken material they find online – like songs, text, or images – and remixed it into their own artistic creation. By comparison, just 18% of all internet users have done this. A whopping 77% of bloggers have shared something online that they created themselves, like their own artwork, photos, stories, or videos. By comparison, 26% of internet users have done this.
Some additional data points from the Bloggers report:
87% of bloggers allow comments on their blog
72% of bloggers post photos to their blog
55% of bloggers blog under a pseudonym
41% of bloggers say they have a blogroll or friends list on their blog
8% of bloggers earn money on their blog
For more information on the The Pew Internet Project go to http://www.pewinternet.org