Are blogs as important as bloggers think they are?
This publish is a part of of the biweekly Blogoff, a now mythical event wherein bloggers of all stripes weight in on the same topic. This week's subject is the name of this post: Are bloggers as vital as bloggers suppose they're?
I like to think of myself as an influential blogger and by some measures I am. To remind myself that the qualifier some measures definitely applies to me, I keep this New Yorker cartoon by Alex Gregory on hand. It helps to keep me from putting too much stock in my own PR.
When Mr. Gregory drew that cartoon and The New Yorker ran it in September 2005, there were 70 million blogs in the world* and I really didn't know what a blog was. The blog indexer Technorati issues an annual report on the state of the Blogosphere and by 2009, the latest figures they have, there were 133,000,000 million blogs indexed** .
All facts relating to blogs and running a blog are difficult to pin down because they cope with such an anarchic concern. Blog activity and blog traffic numbers are usually pronounced via bloggers themselves and even if you take that into account, there are an entire lot of blogs accessible. Technorati paints a sincerely interesting profile of what bloggers looked like as of 2009.
- 77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann
- Two-thirds of Bloggers are male (c’mon ladies, start Blogging!)
- More than half are married and more than half are parents
- 60% are 18-44
- 75% have college degrees and 40% have graduate degrees
- One in four has an annual household income of $100K+
- Around half of Bloggers are working on at least their second blog
- 68% have been blogging for two years or more
- 86% have been blogging for at least a year
But of direction I find statistics like this interesting, I'm part of the cohort in question. What's thrilling too is a glimpse into why humans blog.
- 72% of respondents are classified as Hobbyists, meaning that they report no income related to blogging
- Of those who have monetized their blogging to at least some extent:
- 54% are Part-Timers
- 32% are Self-Employed Bloggers
- 14% are Corporate Bloggers (defined as someone who draws a salary as a blogger for a company)
While I do not guide myself from this weblog's advert sales, I derive all of my profits from it and the projects having a blog leads to. That puts me inside the 32% category, self-hired bloggers. There are extra of us than I notion and that is an excellent element.
Out of all of those statistics though, the most interesting and most important one is the first stat I listed, 77% of Internet users read blogs. When you stop to consider that web sites like The Huffington Post and Apartment Therapy are blogs with monthly traffic numbers in the millions, that 77% figure isn't very surprising.
Blogs, like newspapers, magazines or every other media form come in all shapes sizes and levels of have an impact on. The question "Are blogs essential?" gets asked all the time and it is as hard a query to answer as "Are newspapers important?" The answer relies upon on which blogs, and which newspapers you're talking approximately. There's a quite clear difference between The New York Times and The Dayton Daily News. According to the ones Technorati facts, handiest 15% of Bloggers spend 10 or extra hours each week running a blog. That way there are a whole lot of hobbyist bloggers obtainable. Not that there is a component wrong with being a hobbyist blogger however you can't lump a weblog that documents the comings and going of a young family to an audience made of that young family's grandparents with The Huffington Post.
Everybody who writes a blog thinks his or her blog is important and influential. Including me. But numbers don't lie and they don't grow in relation to wishes and dreams. So are blogs important? Yes some are.
If the question is turned to "Is blogging important?" the answer's a resounding yes and that importance only grows every day. As a social phenomenon its importance can't be overstated. With that said, there's a world of difference between blogging as a whole and an individual blog.
Old media isn't going anywhere and it's only a matter of time until "new" media gets absorbed by it. But blogging itself is changing the landscape. It's a lot of fun to be something of a pioneer (at least within my niche) and to have found myself a player in my industry (even if it's a bit part). But what's most amazing to me is that I can derive an income from it.
If you inquire from me how influential Kitchen and Residential Design is I wouldn't recognise how to answer that query. If you question me how influential running a blog is within the kitchen and tub enterprise, I'd say that it's a developing have an effect on. But it truly is my niche and my enterprise. All niches and all industries will solution that query otherwise.
So if the question is Are blogs as important as bloggers think they are? My answer would be Ask a better question.
All of the collaborating bloggers in today's Blog Off could be listed here and up to date because the day goes on. Give 'em all a look-see.
| Blogger | Blog Post Link | |
|---|---|---|
| Veronika Miller | @modenus | Modenus Community |
| Paul Anater | @paul_anater | Kitchen and Residential Design |
| Rufus Dogg | @dogwalkblog | DogWalkBlog |
| Becky Shankle | @ecomod | Eco-Modernism |
| Bob Borson | @bobborson | Life of an Architect |
| Nick Lovelady | @cupboards | Cupboards Kitchen and Bath |
| Sean Lintow, Sr. | @SLSconstruction | SLS-Construction.com |
| Hollie Holcombe | @GreenRascal | Green Rascal Design |
| Saxon Henry | @saxonhenry | Roaming by Design |
| Betsy De Maio | @egrgirl | Egrgirl's Blog |
| Ami | @beackami | Multifarious Miscellany |