Hey everyone, I actually found something interesting and worthwhile to do with my time. This can only mean good things for you.
So, over at Sociological Images I read this post about a Technorati study over, wait for it, who blogs. They broke it down pretty thoroughly I think with all sorts of nice graphs and numbers and shit, all that scientific mess we like.
Me, I really hate stats AND graphs.
BUT
I can't say I was totally disinterested or totally surprised. Here's a couple of screen caps that interested me the most (also my firefox theme is heaven's cube. it's nice.)
Click it, and behold:
Is this surprising to you? It is a little to me. As you know, I recently...er, outed myself as a young-ish blogger, which I'm hoping you've all totally forgotten about by now. I actually expected the 18-24 category to be a little bigger if we're just talking about blogging/journaling for the sake of doing so, as in, not necessarily serious issues or anything. Also neat too that there's no UNDER 18 category.
Gender isn't too shocking. I mean...shit. But it's also binary...ehh, some exclusion there I think.
And look:
Hmm. Dull surprise, but it's not really for us to be surprised or shocked by. I am a little curious about the map--in my mind I imagine that more liberal areas like the west (stop laughing) would have higher concentration of bloggers but if you look it's mostly the north east, south, & midwest isn't it? Except for California because California is always doing it big. I like to imagine that I put Johnson City on the map.
Anyway, weird. BUT like I say, stats only depress me which is why I took fucking Calculus, so thanks, but bye, I'm more interested in why things are this way. If you're more interested in WHO it's over thisaway.
Here's the WHY. I trust curiosity will get the better of you all anyway but I'll share some excerpts just in case like me, sometimes you can't be bothered a damn.
Blogging topics are diverse
Both personal and professional topics are equally popular. Forty percent of bloggers consider their blogging topics outside of these categories. “Other” blog topics include: 2008 election, alternative energy, art, beauty, blogging, comics, communication, cooking/food, crafts, design, environment, internet/Web 2.0, Jamaica, and media/journalism.
....Jamaica? Also isn't the 2008 election part of politics? Shit I must be living in bizarro land.
Three-quarters of bloggers cover three or more topics. The average number of topics blogged about is five.
There were some global differences. Music is more popular and politics is less popular in Asia, while personal, lifestyle, and religious topics are less popular in Europe.
Neat, I've heard that politics aren't discussed an awful lot in Asian culture (well, depending on where we mean when we say "Asia"--in my case I've heard this regarding East & Southeast Asia). And from what I understand a lot of Europe is pretty secular so, ho-hum.
Sincere, Conversational, Expert and Humorous are top blogging styles
We asked bloggers how they would describe their blogging styles. Although there is a perception of blogging as a means for writing a tell-all or gossiping about others, snarky and confessional were at the bottom of the list in terms of blogging styles. Half of bloggers consider their style to be sincere, conversational, humorous, and expert in nature.
Some differences emerged across all segments. International bloggers tend to be less conversational and snarky. Asian bloggers tend to be more motivational and confessional, while European bloggers are more confrontational. Women tend to be more conversational in their blogging style, while men tend to be expert. Finally, those under 34 are more confessional in their blogging style, while those over 35 are more expert in their style.
Fewer than one in five bloggers consider themselves snarky or confessional.
...Obviously I wasn't interviewed for this shit. I actually forget to be serious most of the time. Lulz, again, interesting binary differences there.
You can take it from there. It's truly fascinating and I recommend you check it out. You should probably tell me what you think too. I guess because I'm more concerned with my own little corner of the blogosphere I'm ready to balk at the facts, but understand I read a certain...a certain niche if you will, so obviously it's not true for ME. And I feel the study isn't really that extensive and a lot of things just get thrown in & lumped together, but it's still something interesting to ponder.
