How we got into a blog jam

Jeannine Guttman
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
07-23-2006
How we got into a blog jam
Byline: Jeannine Guttman
Edition: FINAL
Section: Insight
Column: EDITOR'S NOTE

After reading a new national survey on the burgeoning phenomenon of Web journaling - or blogging - I came away with a different twist on that famous quote, "I think, therefore I am," penned by the French philosopher Rene Descartes.

This study by the Pew Internet & America Life Project was suggesting something similar - only different, more modern.
Something like, "I blog, therefore I am."

That sentiment pretty much sums up the findings of the report, which surveyed more than 4,700 American adult Internet users on their blogging habits.

The word "blog" is a contraction of sorts, a combination of the phrase "Web log." A blog is a diary posted on the Internet, an electronic journal of one's personal experiences, thoughts and feelings.

It is often a highly private and revealing look into a person's world and psyche. And yet, unlike the diary I kept as a teenager, sealed with a tiny lock and buried deep in a dresser drawer, these interior dialogues are published on the Internet, an instantaneous, virtual printing press with a global audience.

Not much privacy there. Which is why 55 percent of all bloggers say they use a fake name.

About 12 million American adults, or 8 percent of all Internet users, keep a blog, the study found. But many more people, the survey found, are reading those blogs - a whopping 57 million American adults, or about 39 percent of Internet users.

So why do people blog, and how many bloggers are there?

Conventional wisdom held that people blogged to get their political beliefs out there, for others to read and be swayed by.

Not so, the survey authors found.

"The Pew Internet Project blogger survey finds that the American blogosphere is dominated by those who use their blogs as personal journals. Most bloggers do not think of what they do as journalism," the authors wrote.

"Most bloggers say they cover a lot of different topics, but when asked to choose one main topic, 37 percent of bloggers cite 'my life and experiences' as a primary topic of their blog. Politics and government ran a very distant second, with 11 percent of bloggers citing those issues of public life as the main subject of their blogs.

"Entertainment-related topics were the next most popular blog- type, with 7 percent of bloggers, followed by sports (6 percent), general news and current events (5 percent), business (5 percent), technology (4 percent), religion, spirituality or faith (2 percent), a specific hobby or a health problem or illness (each comprising 1 percent of bloggers). Other topics mentioned include opinions, volunteering, education, photography, causes and passions, and organizations."

Other findings from the study:

More than half of all bloggers are under the age of 30. They are racially diverse and evenly split in terms of men and women.

When compared to all Internet users, bloggers are much more likely to instant-message; text-message via cell phone; read another's blog; remix songs, text or images; and share artwork, photos, stories and videos online.

Ninety-five percent of bloggers get news from the Internet, versus 73 percent of all Internet users.

But that's not their only source of news. Like other Internet users, bloggers partake of mainstream media - in big doses. Eighty- five percent of both groups read newspapers, with about half doing so on a typical day. About 90 percent watch TV news, with more than half doing so on a typical day. About 75 percent listen to radio news; again, about half do so on a typical day. And about 50 percent read magazines for news, with 25 percent doing so on a typical day.

"Despite the public nature of creating a blog, most bloggers view it as a personal pursuit," the study said. "The main reasons for keeping a blog are creative expression and sharing personal experiences," with a majority saying they have blogs to share stories and express themselves creatively. Eighty-four percent of bloggers "describe their blog as either a 'hobby' or just 'something I do, but not something I spend a lot of time on.' "

Fifty-nine percent of bloggers spend one or two hours per week on their blogs; 10 percent spend 10 hours or more per week working on their blogs.

Fifty-two percent of bloggers "say they blog mostly for themselves, not for an audience. About one-third of bloggers (32 percent) say they blog mostly for their audience."

The study, overall, found that "blogging is inspiring a new group of writers and creators to share their voices with the world. We find that bloggers blog for many different reasons - some blog to exercise their creative muscles, others want to motivate or influence others. . . ." The survey sprang from a need to answer the question "why" - why do people express their innermost thoughts on a the most nonprivate of vehicles, the Internet?

"Some observers have suggested that blogging is nothing more than the next step in a burgeoning culture of narcissism and exhibitionism spurred by reality TV and other elements of the modern media environment," the study notes. "But others contend that blogging promises a democratization of voices that can now bypass the institutional gatekeepers of mainstream media. This democratization is thought to have implications for the practice and business of journalism as well as the future of civic and political discourse."

You can access the full study at www.pewinternet.org.

I don't see the dichotomy of choices in the search for the answer to why people blog. I don't think it's narcissism or democracy. I think it's rooted in something more innate than that, in something that is part of our DNA.

Blogging is the newest iteration of the age-old desire for self- expression and storytelling, which has characterized humans throughout history.

People have an insatiable appetite for storytelling. We love to tell stories, to hear stories and to recall lessons from these tales throughout our lives. Storytelling is the way we document our existence.

It helps us to understand our life, our thoughts, our purpose, our soul. It also enables us to understand the lives of others, to build empathy, compassion and connection.

Remember when you asked your mother or father, "Please tell me a story"?

In profound ways, we are still asking that question, of ourselves and others.

Now, with the Internet, more people can respond to that inquiry. They can write their own stories. They can read others' stories. Their audience can be their friends and family, or the whole planet.

If you strip away the high-tech gadgetry that allows these personal stories to go global, you will find an ancient human desire.

The more things change, I guess, the more they stay the same.

Tell me a story.

Jeannine Guttman is editor and vice president of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. Send e-mail to

jguttman@pressherald.com or write to 390 Congress St., Portland, ME 04101.

Copyright 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.