Metrics 2.0: The blogger population has grown to 12 million American adults

A new national survey of bloggers in the US finds that most are focused on describing their personal experiences to a relatively small audience of readers and that only a small proportion focus their coverage on politics, media, government, or technology.

Related surveys by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that the blog population has grown to about 12 million American adults, or about 8% of adult internet users and that the number of blog readers has jumped to 57 million American adults, or 39% of the online population.

44% of bloggers have taken material they find online – like songs, text, or images – and remixed it into their own artistic creation. By comparison, just 18% of all internet users have done this. A whopping 77% of bloggers have shared something online that they created themselves, like their own artwork, photos, stories, or videos. By comparison, 26% of internet users have done this.

These are some of the key findings in a new report issued by the Pew Internet Project titled "Bloggers":

54% of bloggers say that they have never published their writing or media creations anywhere else; 44% say they have published elsewhere.
54% of bloggers are under the age of 30. Women and men have statistical parity in the blogosphere, with women representing 46% of bloggers and men 54%.
76% of bloggers say a reason they blog is to document their personal experiences and share them with others. 64% of bloggers say a reason they blog is to share practical knowledge or skills with others.
37% of bloggers say that the primary topic of their blog is "my life and experiences." Other topics ran distantly behind: 11% of bloggers focus on politics and government; 7% focus on entertainment; 6% focus on sports; 5% focus on general news and current events; 5% focus on business; 4% on technology; 2% on religion, spirituality or faith; and additional smaller groups who focus on a specific hobby, a health problem or illness, or other topics.

Some additional data points from the Bloggers report:

87% of bloggers allow comments on their blog
72% of bloggers post photos to their blog
55% of bloggers blog under a pseudonym
41% of bloggers say they have a blogroll or friends list on their blog
8% of bloggers earn money on their blog.

Business & Market Intelligence

The blogger population has grown to 12 million American adults