It is easy to see how quickly the phenomenon of blogging has exploded on the Internet in recent years. Ah, but what are the hard numbers about the number of blogs and who is using them?
The relative newness of blogging makes it somewhat difficult to track specific trends and topics, but there are some statistics about Internet blogging that can be observed from information obtained by search engines and random surveys. Also hampering the statistics are the true definition of a blog, and the fact that not all blogs are standalone or able to be measured as a site. Despite these obstacles, there are some reliable statistics out there.
It is believed, according to surveys, that 9% of Internet users in 2005 (more recent surveys are still in process) had created and used blogs. 25% of Internet users surveyed stated that they read blogs on a regular basis. These statistics came out of a survey pool of over 2500 Internet users, which allows for other assumptions to be made. If stretched to include the entire US population, this statistic would equal about 6% of the population having created a blog, and 16% of the population being regular blog readers.
The statistics for blogging also show that most blog writers are young. Among the pool of Internet users who were between the ages of 18-29, 19% of them have created blogs and written in blogs. Compare that to only 5% of over 50 Internet users. Most blog writers are also men, although only by a small margin. 11% of young male Internet users have created blogs at one point, while only 8% of female Internet users have created blogs.
Blog reading is equally popular among the sexes, however, with 36% of adults ages 18-29 having read blogs online. Blog reading is again less popular with older adults - only 18% of those over age 50 read blogs on the Internet. Statistics also show that about 20% of the newspaper reading population of the US also reads blogs, and about 40% of the people who listen to talk radio also read blog sites. This shows that while there are many who do read blogs for information, there is still a large area for gaining readership.
The numbers on blogging are always changing, due to the fact that the Internet itself is always changing. As more people have access to the World Wide Web, more blogs will be created and read.
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