A few months prior to starting a blog I really didn’t know what they were, where they were headed and frankly didn’t clearly see the value. After writing a blog for the past 2+ years, I am not 100% sure I clearly see the future, but I can confidently tell you they are a very powerful communication tool and one that is gaining tremendous steam each and every day. This blog has taught me so much in a short amount of time. The insight that all of us gain from reading opinions and comments from different people is so valuable.
Did you know…
- Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
- More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
- Over 57 million Americans read blogs.
- 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
- 9% of internet users say they have created blogs
- Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs
- Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day
- There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day
- 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs
- Blog readers average 23 hours online each week
Amazing statistics for sure.
Blogs are such an important communication tool in today’s society that over the past year I have been asked to post about:
- Promoting one of the biggest awards in the research industry.
- Someone who unfortunately was terminally ill to try to help and notify people in the research community
- Promoting and supporting both political campaigns for the upcoming election
Truly I am shocked where this has gone over the past few year
- Are you surprised at how important blogs are in social media?
- Are you surprised at how much blogs have grown?
- What do you think the future brings for Blogs?
- How are you using blogs for the purpose of research?
I look forward to your comments.
Liz says:
My company recently started a blog, and I subsequently started my own personal blog. Personally, I think it is an invaluable tool for learning, and a reason to reflect on things and share thoughts which otherwise would have never been voiced. I have learned a lot about other people through blogging and other services, like Twitter.
Obviously blog interaction has grown and will continue to grow. People use them a lot for making important decisions. Me, personally, I use them to learn about the important people in my field and what they do, what they think, how they’ve become successful, etc.
SeanJJordan says:
Hi Merrill,
I have a blog (http://www.seanjjordan.com) where I talk about small publishing and comic book publishing. I also used blogging software (Wordpress) to set up a blog-style page for my upcoming children’s graphic novel, Code of the Wild (http://www.codeofthewild.com). Both blogs are set up because they allow me to get information out to people easily and because they’re easy to maintain.
Now, with that said… I think far too many corporate entities use blogs with the expectation that they’re going to generate significant returns. The truth of the matter is that it’s not “blogs” as a general rule that are being read — it’s websites that behave like blogs. For example, Gawker Media’s blog-style sites are very popular, but they’re not really blogs in the sense of a single guy writing about his or her area of interest — they’re essentially news sites that have paid writers and editors. The ultra-popular site Boing Boing brings in professional writers and even actors to contribute. And news-style blogs like Daily Kos or the Huffington Post are maintained by communities of contributors, not single voices.
The reason I bring this up is because there’s a perception in the more traditional media that bloggers are just people who sit around and post articles all day. Certainly those people do exist. But the most popular blogs are more like news aggregators than anything — they just use blogging software for layout and maintenance.
One of the most misguided things I’ve seen in the marketing profession is the tendency to set up blogs and then expect them to catch on in some big way. For example, Saint Louis University has been advertising its student blogs about SLU, as if anyone would want to read them. Most internet users aren’t that interested in content that’s been obviously run through a PR filter, and those who are will find it through search engines, not advertising.
That’s not to say I don’t like blogs. I think they’re great ways for people to share ideas, and I love the close-knit user communities that tend to form around them! I just worry that people in the business world get excited about “these new blog things” and start them without understanding their purpose or their usefulness.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Sean,
Appreciate your comments. I will check out your blog.
Thanks.
Merrill
Steve Gentile says:
In the story-teller tradition, the village took great pride in and placed high value upon the member of their community who would be the “gatekeeper” of information. I often think of known greats in the past – Gandhi, Jesus, Caesar, Mercury, Joshua, Alexander the Great, Columbus, Galileo – the list is endless. Imagine them as Bloggers and the wealth of legacy knowledge that would trail behind them as their words and thoughts were not only recorded, but commented upon.
My family has many who love story-telling – it’s what I grew up around and perhaps the reason I went into fillmmaking and then qualitative research. This enriching tapestry, of not only the blogger but the community experience around him/her infuse the “village” with knowledge, humor, humility, grace, acceptance – a shared emotion and a chance to speak and be heard in mountaintops and valleys.
Through blogs, my community becomes bigger and also more intimate simultaneously – thank you for this gift.
Fee Sepahi says:
I am one!!!! Not only am I addicted to the M/A/R/C blog, but through time I’ve learned that my family loves to communicate and I’m in the process of launching my first blog, given the global nature of our family and they are all thrilled, including my 90+ mother living about 8k miles away! She’ll get to see photos, news, video and write anything she wants in the blog page!
It’s instantaneous, it brings together ALL the generations and it broadcasts news in mass! What more could one ask for…!