My gaff last week and its attendant attention sent me out on the web in search of some blogging rules of the road. I didn't find as much as I thought I would. I found these rules for corporate bloggers. I found that while once I was an early adopter now I've come late to the blogging party. And I found that at age 50 I'm a relative rarity in the blogoshpere. USA Today reports that out of an estimated 10 million blogs out there, "about 52% are created by youths ages 10 to 19. Another 40% are created by 20-somethings." (I also found a terrific Online Journalism Review article, a Perseus Survey and a Pew Study which are all cited in the extended entry.)
This article by Mark Glasser for Online Journalism Review has scholars discussing blogs. It's an interesting overview of blogs and their impact; I recommend reading the whole thing.
This Perseus Survey reported on here by PC Magazine found that:
...over half of [the bloggers surveyed] are not updating any more. And more than 25 percent of all new blogs are what the researchers call "one-day wonders." Meanwhile, the abandonment rate appears to be eating into well-established blogs: Over 132,000 blogs are abandoned after a year of constant updating....The most obvious reason for abandonment is simple boredom. Writing is tiresome. Why anyone would do it voluntarily on a blog mystifies a lot of professional writers. This is compounded by a lack of feedback, positive or otherwise. Perseus thinks that most blogs have an audience of about 12 readers.The year old survey is of hosted blogs (for Google's Directory listing of hosts, click here) so it did not include people who build their own blog sites (me!), family blogs, or professional/academic blogs. My guess is they have a greater success rate.This Pew study of online content creation found that:
...between 2% and 7% of Internet users publish a ‘blog. Within this tiny group, only about 10% report updating their blog daily. Most weblog writers update their blogs once a week or less often. Even though only a small number of Internet users are writing blogs, a slightly larger number of Net users are visiting them. Eleven percent of Internet users report visiting blogs written by others. And of these blog readers, a third report posting to or commenting on the blog entries that they have read. Blog readers most frequently visit the online diaries of friends (56% have done so), strangers (46% have visited the blogs of people they have never met) and family members (a quarter report visiting family blogs).Creators fall into three groups:
Power creators are the Internet users who are most enthusiastic about content creating activities. They are young – their average age is 25 – and they are more likely than other kinds of creators to do things like use instant messaging, play games, and download music. And they are the most likely group to be blogging.
Older creators have an average age of 58 and are experienced Internet users. They are highly educated, like sharing pictures, and are the most likely of the creator groups to have built their own Web sites. They are also the most likely to have used
the Internet for genealogical research.
Content omnivores are among the heaviest overall users of the Internet. Most are employed. Most log on frequently and spend considerable time online doing a variety of activities. They are likely to have broadband connections at home. The average age of this group is 40.
