Who’s Blogging

The Pew Internet & American Life Project survey released yesterday tracks the blogging phenomenon.

Key findings

Blogging is bringing new voices to the online world.

Contrary to the impression created by the press attention on political blogging, just 11% of bloggers say they focus mainly on government or politics.

The blogging population is young, evenly split between women and men, and racially diverse.

Relatively small groups of bloggers view blogging as a public endeavor.

The main reasons for keeping a blog are creative expression and sharing personal experiences.

Only one-third of bloggers see blogging as a form of journalism. Yet many check facts and cite original sources.

Bloggers are avid consumers and creators of online content. They are also heavy users of the internet in general.

Bloggers are major consumers of political news and about half prefer sources without a particular political viewpoint.

Bloggers often utilize community and readership-enhancing features available on their blogs.

For extra analysis see the New York Times, the BBC and Slate