Blogs Continue to Gain Traction

A quarter of all Internet users say they read blogs, and 9 percent say they’ve created one, according to an update to the “State of Blogging” report published by Pew Internet & American Life Project in January.

The original study stated blog readership had risen 58 percent through the end of last year, though 62 percent of online Americans couldn’t define “blog” at the time of the survey.

Updating the information to include the first quarter of this year, two surveys of American adults conducted between January 13 and March 21, involving 2,871 Internet users, found of blog site authors, 9 percent of Internet users, have risen a full two percent from January’s study. Blog readership, at 25 percent, actually dropped from the previous study’s 27 percent, which Pew accounts to a possible margin of error. The reported 25 percent of blog readers translates into 32 million American adults.

“There is very likely some growth among the number who say they have created and publish blogs. There hasn’t been any notable growth between November and March in those who say they read blogs,” says Lee Rainie, director of Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Bloggers tend to be male; 11 percent of men have created blogs, compared to 8 percent of women. Blogging is much more popular among young adults; 19 percent of online Americans ageds 18 to 29 have created blogs, compared to just five percent of those 50 or older.

Blog Activity, January 13-March 21, 2005 (%)
Internet users who have created blogs	9
Internet users who read blogs	25
Men who have created blogs	11
Women who have created blogs	8
Young adults (18-29) who have created blogs	19
Source: PEW Internet & American Life Project, 2005

Readership is also higher among the 18 to 29 set, with 36 percent of that group reading blogs, to a still-substantial 18 percent of Internet users over 50 reading blogs. Men and women are equal readers of the blogosphere.

Compared to other forms of media, Pew said blog readership equals 40 percent the talk radio audience, and 20 percent of the newspaper-reading population.