By conducting a national phone survey of bloggers, Pew Internet found that 12 million Americans operate blogs. This translates to approximately 8 percent of all adult Internet users, while 57 million Americans actively read blogs. That is roughly 39 percent of the American online population.
According to Pew’s Senior Research Specialist Amanda Lenhart, bloggers are divided pretty evenly by gender — 54 percent male and 46 percent female. Lenhart also found 77 percent of bloggers write because of the cathartic experience it provides, with 33 percent saying this is their primary reason for blogging.
The Pew study also delves into the other reasons why bloggers blog. Eleven percent say they blog to report or comment on politics, 7 percent on entertainment, 6 percent on sports, 5 percent on current events, 5 percent on business, 4 percent on technology, 2 percent on religion or spiritual concerns. Smaller percentages cover specific hobbies, medical issues and other topics.
“Much of the attention to bloggers has focused on the small number of high-traffic, A-list bloggers,” Susannah Fox, associate director at Pew and co-author of the report, said. “By asking a wide range of bloggers what they do and why they do it, we have found a different kind of story about the power of the Internet to encourage creativity and community among all kinds of Internet users.”
While many people devote a lot of time and energy into their blogs, the study shows blogging is more of a hobby than an actual means of profit. Only 8 percent of bloggers surveyed have made money from their writing.
“Advertising on blogs is enough to buy them one latte a month versus freeing them from the shackles of the workplace,” Lenhart told TechNewsWorld. “This is not someone’s ticket to prosperity.”
XBIZ blogger and Senior Editor Stephen Yagielowicz agrees with Lenhart, especially as it relates to adult-themed blogs, of which he says mostly amount to little more than traffic sources as opposed to insightful commentary or news.
“The vast bulk of adult blogs are vehicles by which webmasters, in their futile pursuit of profits, use link lists to sponsor-provided free hosted galleries — all in a ‘me too’ effort to jump on the latest over-hyped bandwagon, blogging,” Yagielowicz said. “This is often because their other ‘me too’ efforts have failed. These psuedo-blogs are often likewise doomed to failure, as the readers tend to be savvier than the publishers.”
ProfitLabInc.’s Jack Mardack, also an active adult blogger, echoes Yagielowicz’s sentiments.
“Sadly I see very few porn blogs that make use of the blog medium’s special powers,” Mardack told XBIZ. “This can only be because most porn blogs are operated by adult webmasters who may be genius in traditional webcraft but are not known for their social acumen. The commercial imperative and the desire to convert traffic above all other considerations are blinding adult webmasters to an enormous opportunity.
“What we need are more webmasters stepping out from behind the impersonal veil typified by the TGP. We need more voices standing up proudly in advocacy of porn. We need to hear them say ‘This is my porn, I like it and maybe you will too.’”
The adult blogging community is a small segment of the overall blogosphere, but its well-represented with informative and insightful commentary.
Yagielowicz’s XBIZ blog, “Stephen’s World” provides an informative read targeted at the working webmaster, content producer and others involved in the business end of the online adult entertainment industry. Gram Ponante, also an XBIZ blogger, focuses his writing on the lighter, more humorous side of the adult industry.
“I write for an educated consumer who doesn't let a little marketing bullshit get in the way of enjoying porn,” Ponante said.
The study also showed that bloggers are quickly adopting new media technologies like adding video and audio to enhance the readers’ experience. Fifteen percent have added video and 30 percent, audio, usually in the form of downloadable podcasts.
“Sure you can get lost in the blogosphere if you wander far and wide, but that’s no different from navigating any other area of the web,” Lenhart said. “Part of the fun of blogging and reading blogs is it allows you to discover new blogs all the time. It interconnects people in very intriguing ways and you don't know what you're going to get.”
