[Source: ScienceRoll.com]
Blog?
A blog (a contraction of the term "web-log") is used by many as "a personal diary, a daily pulpit, a collaborative space, a political soapbox, a breaking-news outlet, a collection of links, private thoughts, or memos to the world". (Blogger.com)
Top blog service providers include Blogger.com, Xanga.com, and Multiply.com.
Size?
Technorati.com, a leading blog search engine states that there are currently 112.8 million blogs as of year 2008 in 81 different languages! For an average of three years, bloggers have been actively blogging, and are collectively creating almost one million posts per day.
[Source: Technorati.com]
Technorati.com is currently tracking more than 70 million weblogs, and there are approximately 120,000 new blogs created worldwide every day. Do the math, and that means about 1.4 blogs are formed every single second!
Trend?
In Asia and Malaysia, 46% of the people online actively blog (Windows Live Spaces Research, 2006). The research also showed that Asians see blogging as a social phenomenon to build and maintain their social connections and to express themselves. Blogging as a corporate of business tool is still nascent in most markets.
In Europe, the blogging trend is taking off slowly. A survey done in Europe’s top 15,000 companies show that only 2% write blogs. Many boardroom members are not aware about blogging. (Hobson, 2006)
Benefits?
Now that blogging is shown to be popular among Asians, many people are turning to blogs instead of the traditional mainstream media for information and updates.
In fact, blogging is growing so rapidly that Advertlets and its rival Nuffnang are using top blogs as advertising tools. This is also an effective way for bloggers to earn their side income.
Sifry, CEO of Technorati (2007) says "the state of the blogosphere is strong, and is maturing as an influential and important part of the web. For nearly four years, we have been tracking and enabling the growth of this phenomenon. Our gathered data indicates that the medium is growing up."
References
Blogger, viewed 6 November 2008, <http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g>
Blogging Phenomenon Sweeps Asia, report from Microsoft, viewed 6 November 2008, <http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-28-2006/0004480819&EDATE>
Helmond A 2008, How Many Blogs Are There? Is Someone Still Counting?, viewed 6 November 2008, <http://www.blogherald.com/2008/02/11/how-many-blogs-are-there-is-someone-still-counting/>
Hobson N 2006, Business blogging: Hills to climb in Europe, viewed 6 November 2008, <http://www.nevillehobson.com/2006/04/03/business-blogging-hills-to-climb-in-europe/>
Mesko B 2008, Do you need some reasons why to blog?, viewed 6 November 2008, <http://scienceroll.com/2008/11/12/do-you-need-some-reasons-why-to-blog/>
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