So who is actually reading all those blogs?

Not everyone, according to MarketingVox. The latest Gallup poll says:

Gallup's latest examination of Americans' online habits finds that one in five Web users read Web-logs, or "blogs," either frequently or occasionally. Though this translates into 40 million readers, it relegates blogs to the bottom pack of Internet activities, among the 13 for which Gallup recently measured Americans' use. Like most Web activities, blog readership hasn't increased over the past year or so, even though Americans are spending more time online.

So... who's reading the 75,000 new blogs being created everyday according to Technorati's Feb. 2006 State of the Blogosphere report? The short answer is that this may be the year of blog deaths as well as births. The best ones will rise to the top. The mediocre, occasionally or never updated blogs will die on the vine.

That's not profound, I know. But it's all I can come up with off-the-cuff. Your thoughts? Would love to hear. Click that comments link and add your two cents.

Comments

[Patsi Krakoff]

I cringe whenever I see a great blog that hasn't been updated in a week, or more. Whatever happened to persistance? Or are we too into instant gratification to do the little things that count (like writing 200-300 words on a blog)? Finally the techies give us easy to use blogging software, and we don't take the 10-20 minutes needed to write a post. Like any good marketing tool, there is a ramp up time to develop the blogging habit. Yes, the cream will rise to the top, but so will some average blogs, just because their owners are persistant. As for the question, who is reading blogs, maybe we blog authors have to continue to educate the public about finding blogs, subscribing to them, and let them know how easy it is to get updates.

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Great question, I’ve been thinking (and writing) about this as well. Ultimately, only a top end blogs will be read by the masses (yours will likely be in that list) the other 99% will have a niche audience (thin k long tail) These 'focused' blog will retain a smaller audience of 'birds of a feather' or within communities or networks.

I believe that most of the blogs will be used more as a communication tool amongst a network rather than a mass media publishing tool.

[Mordechai (Morty) Schiller (aka Wordrider)]

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

(No, I didn't write that. Wish I did. It's "The Arrow And The Song" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The thing is to make your blog your arrow and your song. And let it land where it may.)

[Neil J. Squillante]

I wonder if Gallup used the word "blog" when conducting the poll. Many people probably read blogs without realizing they're doing so. Instead, they probably just think of it as a Web site.

On the other hand, I'm beginning to suspect based on some analysis I've done that at least half of all blog traffic comes from search engines, not from regular readers.

[steven e. streight: vaspers the grate, blog revolutionist]

I am going through my blogroll, cleaning it up, deleting blogs that are abandoned, full of comment spam, or just boring.

I don't care who reads blog, how many Americans read blogs, etc.

I just keep improving my thinking, writing, marketing, linking, networking, debating, and public relations skills by blogging until my head falls off.

With horrid geek neck, that just might happen soon.

:^)

Bloggers cast a vote against Domination Systems with every comment or blog post published.

Keep blogging, bruthers and sistas.

[Steve O'Keefe]

Maybe the important question is not how many people "read" blogs but how many people "use" blogs?

Blogging isn't necessarily about writing for publication. It is often used as an organizing tool, useful for small group work and often very successful without a strong readership.

STEVE O'KEEFE
V.P. IAOC
IAOCblog.com

[Debbie Weil]

Steve,

Great comment. I agree. Assuming the blog has a focus and is useful to the small group. And of course that's what all the internal corporate blogs are being used for. I talk about this in my book.

:)

[Mordechai (Morty) Schiller]

Steve & Debbie,

Very true about work-group blogs. Somebody (don't remember who) had a great take on Andy Warhol's "15 minutes" line:
"Now everybody can be famous to 15 people!"

Yes, but many people today use blogs as a substitute or supplement to their newsletters. (So how many of the newsletters in your inbox do you actually READ?)

Are blogs a good tool for disseminating ideas or self promotion?

Morty
wordrider.blogspot.com

[Telian Adlam]

...we don't take the 10-20 minutes needed to write a post...

Reference: Patsi Krakoff
=============================
Rarely do my blog entries only take me 10-20 minutes to write, but I guess it depends on the topic and the depth of the post.

Some people just have a natural affinity for writing their quick thoughts and having them sound profound, but the rest of the world actually needs to work at it.

I'm not knocking what you said, because I know plenty of people who aren't willing to invest the time, but posting a reminder that not all blog only take 10 minutes to update ;)

=======================
Many people probably read blogs without realizing they're doing so. Instead, they probably just think of it as a Web site.

Reference: Neil J. Squillante
========================

I agree.

Although blogs are becoming more mainstream, there are still quite a few people whom I speak that don't know what a blog is.

That aside, there are a number of things bloggers can do to promote repeat visitors.

For instance, having a newsletter. Not everyone will fully understand what RSS or syndication is or even how to navigate each individual post.

For them, offer an alternative - a way to get a weekly summary of the posts straight to their e-mail with a direct link to each one.

On some of my blogs, I don't even refer to it as a blog and you'd be hard pressed to find any reference to the word blog.

I believe we, sometimes, get a little too hung up on the word "blog' and forget that it's just a another word for "easily updated website."