Why We Blog

So, for my last update of an action-packed day, I just wanted to call your attention to the results of a survey that AOL conducted. The survey asked folks, "So why do you do this blog thing, anyway?" (I'm paraphrasing.)

Now,
you and I know that there are as many different possible answers to
this question as there are bloggers, but you can tease out some
patterns. Check out this writeup of the Blog Trends Survey (adapted by yours truly). You can also check out the press release, but mine has a pretty graphic that Jason did.

The
survey asked 600 bloggers from around the Web a bunch of questions
about why they blog. Now, if you're only listening to the navel-gazing
of the blog elite (the "blogerati") or follow along with the typical
blog stories in the mainstream media, you might think that we're all
blogging to break the latest big news exclusive, or we've all got thousands of readers, or that we're all trying to get rich and famous from blogging.

(Don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to pooh-pooh citizen journalism, by any means -- it's a very important phenomena and we want to do what we can to encourage it and highlight its power.)

It's just that the reality is, when you ask people why they blog, they say:


* We like to share our thoughts and feelings (54%)
* We like to talk about our lives and interests (50%)
* We do it because it's cathartic, or a kind of release -- in other words, it makes us feel better (50%)

On the flip side:


* Only 16% of bloggers are interested in journalism
* 12% are trying to break news or get a jump on gossip
* Only 8% do it to expose political information

You can read the rest of the survey bullets yourselves. I would characterize it as saying that people blog for themselves, and while they may be mindful of an audience of friends and family, they're still primarily doing it for themselves.

One
other bit that I found amusing: 66% of bloggers don't feel pressure to
do frequent updates of their own blogs, but about the same number (65%)
say they do pay attention to how frequently other bloggers (the ones they read) update their blogs. ("I don't care how often I update my blog, but you better update yours....") A little bit of "do as I say, not as I do."

Anyway, check out the survey results; there are more neat factoids
("A small number [3.8%] describe themselves as blogging perfectionists,
obsessive and compulsive") and ask yourself why you blog. I don't think
there are any wrong responses.

Have a great weekend, everyone. -- Joe