AOL just released a survey saying most bloggers aren’t aspiring journalists or even the vicious political pundits of the cyber world. They blog for the therapeutic aspect.
With blogging becoming such a huge presence on the Internet, it stands to reason the social studies would start showing up about the reasons behind it and AOL’s “Blog Trends Survey” looks to be one of the first.
The study says about 50% of bloggers do it for “self-therapy purposes” and one-third of bloggers who responded say they write frequently about self-help and self-esteem topics. The survey also said six times as many respondents prefer to write about their real-life problems and issues or read blogs from people with similar problems than to go get professional counseling.
Oddly enough, only 16% say they’re interested in journalism, 12 % say they blog to break or stay ahead of the latest news and gossip and only 8% say they blog in order to expose political information. They also quote the Pew Internet & American Life Project saying about 8 million Internet users say they’ve created a blog and Technorati says the number of blogs doubles about every five months.
“What we’ve noticed is that bloggers aren’t necessarily wannabe journalists, or people out to break news or get noticed by the public. They’re writing for themselves, and their blogs serve as a recreational and therapeutic outlet for their thoughts,” said Bill Schreiner, Vice President, AOL Community. “In a way, blogs serve as oral history. When it comes to sharing blogs and reading other people’s blogs, we like to connect with people, learn about their lives, and find common ground. There’s no pressure to write about a particular subject or keep blogs maintained a certain way, and it’s not necessarily a popularity contest.”
The survey was conducted from July 17-22, 2005 through Opinion Place, an online research site operated by DMS. Opinion Place utilizes real-time, randomized assignment of respondents to surveys based on a scientifically process. A total of 600 Web users completed the survey. The screen qualifications for this study were males and females aged 18 and above who write one or more blogs on the Web.
Here are some of their findings:
Blogs As Therapy
— Nearly 50% of respondents say they write a blog because it serves as a form of self-therapy.
— One-third of bloggers write about self-help and self-esteem topics.
— Fifty-four percent like to share their thoughts and feelings with others, and 43% like to chronicle their life and interests.
— In times of need or high anxiety, one-out-of-three people (31%) say they turn to either writing in their blog or reading the blogs of other people who are experiencing similar issues; that’s six times as many people who prefer to seek help and counseling from a
professional (5%). The No. 1 answer was seeking advice from family and friends: 32% vs. 31% who turn to blogs.
— Only 16% of bloggers write a blog because they’re interested in journalism, 12% to break news or stay ahead of the news and gossip curve, and only 8% write a blog to expose political information.
Bloggers Write For Themselves
— Consumer bloggers feel no pressure to write a blog: only 16% write one because it is the latest Internet trend, and 21% because their families or friends do.
— Most bloggers (66%) feel free to write on “anything and everything.”
— Sixty-six percent of respondents say they do not feel any pressure to have to frequently update their blogs, although they do care about how often the blogs they read are updated. Sixty-five percent say they at least sometimes pay attention to how often other
bloggers update their blogs.
— Sixty-percent consider themselves to have a “laid back” blogging personality. A small number (3.8%) describe themselves as blogging perfectionists, obsessive and compulsive.
— Only 12% worry that their blogs are funny and witty.
— A significant percentage (47%) say they feel no pressure at all when they know they have an audience reading their blog. Although, 54% admit it may take them a little longer to write an entry when others may read it.
— Only 13% of people feel disappointed if other people’s blogs attract more readers or responses.
Blogging Etiquette
— Forty-percent of bloggers say it is important to address messages people have posted in their blog in a timely manner.
— Sixty-one percent of bloggers feel that posting a comment on another person’s blog is the “right thing to do.”
— One-in-five bloggers (23%) worry about offending people in their blogs.
— More than three-out-of-five (65%) of bloggers admit to feeling disappointed when people post negative or abusive comments to their blogs.
More on Blogging:
— Twenty-nine percent of people write blogs to improve their writing skills and 41% to stay in touch with family and friends.
— Survey respondents write and maintain an average of two blogs.
— Consumer bloggers spend an average of four hours per week writing their blogs.
— When asked why they read other blogs, most (53%) say for entertainment, 44% say to get a new or fresh perspective on the news, and 36% say to interact with other participants through posting.
There’s a lot of interesting things to be gleaned here. First, there needs to be a clear, decisive definition of a blog. That’s something that’s still up in the air and AOL didn’t clearly define what a blog is. Based on some definitions, the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal are nothing more than great big blogs. They may have defined it on their study but they didn’t in their published results.
Also, there seems to be some confusion based on factors from other groups like Pew and Technorati. Pew says there’s about 8 million blogs and based on Technorati’s assertions, then there’s going to be 16 million by say Christmas or before, by May, 32 million and the end of next year could well see nearly 100 million blogs. Is that a realistic number? Are they all going to be about the personal issues of people? Especially since other studies say political blogs are the most dominant type. A recent unscientific study had information suggestin perhaps as many as 60% of all blogs are spam. So there are some issues work out on what blogs are and what they are not.
Something else to be discussed is the social aspects of blogs. Now, in today’s world, where so many people can communicate so many different ways, far too many people can’t or won’t, for whatever reason, communicate with their next door neighbor. People are isolated in their own neighborhood. They spend their time in their home, watching television, playing on their PC or some other activity that doesn’t involve going outdoors and socializing. One example was churches. In many communities, small towns, neighborhoods, etc. churches were more than just an outlet for spiritual growth, they were also a primary social environment. People went with their friends and families, they’d have meals together, etc. While this does go on to some extent, much of that has been lost.
Right now, it could be suggested that blogs are providing a new avenue for socialization and communication because people will fulfill that need somewhere. For some reason though, anymore, people are more apt to trust people online with so many personal bits of information yet they won’t go say hello to their neighbors in the house next to their own.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
