Latest Gallup Poll Has Good and Bad News for Blogs

Posted on February 7, 2006

Editor & Publisher has an article on the latest Gallup Poll with contains both good and bad news for blog lovers and blog haters. If you don't like blogs you will be glad to know that Americans ranked blogs at the very bottom (13th) of their most frequent online activities.

On the one hand, asked to rank their most frequent online activity, Americans who use the Web (now 73% of the population) placed "reading blogs" at the bottom of its list of 13 choices.

But if you like blogs you will be pleased that 20% of Americans now read blogs either frequently or occasionally.

But on the other hand: blogs barely existed until recently and now fully one in five Americans say they consult blogs "frequently" or at least "occasionally." That 20% figure trails instant messaging (28%), auctions (23%), videocasts and downloading music (22%).

The study also showed that the gender and generational gaps still remain.

In terms of blog activity, there is a slight gender gap (24% of men and 17% of women read them), and of course a generation gap, with 28% of those 18 to 29 using them and only 17% of those over 50.

The majority of bloggers are under age 50 but we have seen several stories about blogging seniors over the past few months. If you factored out the social networks like Friendster and MySpace the generation gap might not be quite as large.