The authors of a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project called "Bloggers" (very creative name) have some interesting things to say about bloggers. Having recently joined this funky venue and quickly been labeled a "blogoholic", I had to read the report, especially since it was touted that the most popular topic for bloggers is themselves!
So what did I learn about me from this report? I fit in, and I don't fit in! The story of my life!
Bloggers fall into two main groups:
- The largest group is those who consider blogging a personal or private (????!!!!) hobby. Now how they consider blogging to be private is beyond my comprehension. Lisa Williams conducted a blog workshop on the emotional life of bloggers at BloggerCon IV . Like the vast majority, she started blogging to "be alone and ended up with all you folks" (bloggers)!
- The second smaller group of bloggers consider blogging to be a public endeavor and put a lot of time into blogging. This is probably my group.
Creative expression was the reason for blogging expressed by 77% of bloggers. 64% blog to share practical knowledge (That's me again!). Only 13% try to post daily and consider it a big part of their life. One third recognized blogging as a form of journalism. Many blogs (51%) are less than 1 year old and 82% of those bloggers believe they will be blogging next year. Reading other blogs is done by 90% of bloggers but only 18% offer RSS feed! Many do not know what RSS feed is. The really shocking figure to me was that only 14% of bloggers are over 50 (There I am again.)! The vast majority are under 30. So once again I'm hangin' out with a bunch of young 'uns!
Of the 147 millions who use the internet, only 57 million read blogs, but for those who blog and read blogs, it's become a creative pastime and a unique method of socializing. I am truly hooked.
(c) Bonnie Erickson 2006
July 23, 2006
A private blog sounds fun. It also sounds like a great way to communicate with family that's scattered all over the nation/world. Can you imagine the heritage that would leave for generations to come? They could actually read entries from generations 3 or 4 previous? It would be akin to finding my great-greats journal but not such an invasion of privacy because it was meant to be publicly read. What a great idea. The blogoholic in me is salivating. Older generations could share how aging changes a person. Younger generations could share their frustrations. Oh, the blogoholic animal is rising. Down boy! Down boy!
Blogger burnout has not happened to me yet although I do keep a few spare ideas on a list in case my muse gets stubborn. She's such a temperamental personality and she gets even worse when the sleep hounds are after her. For those difficult days, I can always revert to real estate definitions or processes or better yet, statistics!
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | March 12, 2007 at 10:48 AM
July 23, 2006
Blogging is so addictive but how do you deal with blogger burn out?
By the way I do have a private blog. My dad, brother and two friends read it.
Posted by: Teresa Boardman | March 12, 2007 at 10:47 AM
July 23, 2006
You don't know my honey. He's not reading it. He gets a glazed over look when I mention blogging. He just totally does not appreciate the social aspects of it. But what would I expect? He just this year got his first cell phone and doesn't check a home e-mail account unless he's job hunting!
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | March 12, 2007 at 10:45 AM
He will know. I bet he reads it in secret.
Posted by: Larry Cragun | March 12, 2007 at 10:44 AM
Larry,
It's great that you've got your kids' support. Two out of my three read my blog. One made a comment on one of my blog entries that reduced me to tears. The first person to request removal from my e-mail notification of new posts was my honey. He's not interested because he makes his living as a computer guru. He doesn't consider after hours computer work to be fun so never looks at the computer at home. Of course, that leaves me free to make any comments about him that I want to and he'll never know!
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | March 12, 2007 at 10:43 AM
July 22, 2006
Bonnie, I actually started to make money. My partner, whiz kid LJ has me putting up content in prep to that. Now my daughter wants the blog to turn into a book. Hummm. Never did I imagine how much fun this turned out to be for me. Part is the blog for sure, part is the challenge, but a big part is the community. It has been fun.
PS One daughter says she is learning things she never knew about me. I wish I could now get my son to read it.
Posted by: Larry Cragun | March 12, 2007 at 10:42 AM