The Blogging Brigade

Why do people blog? This question has been posted on blog-related websites and has been the topic of discussions and theme of many blog entries. However, the exact motive behind blogging remains elusive. And so, the hunt for the answer to this question continues.

Dan Li (http://blog.lidan.net) is a second-year graduate student of mass communication at the College of Communication, Marquette University, Milwaukee. He has conducted a pilot study on “Blogging motives, uses and gratifications” with the assistance of his professor, Dr Robert Griffin. This scribe got hold of his study through the “Bloggers” community on Orkut (http://www.orkut.com), where bloggers from around the world were invited to fill out a detailed questionnaire, which, among other things, asks you to specify the number of blogs one has and the frequency of updates, etc. Participants were also asked to explain why they blog and that question had around 113 different options — one could select as many as were applicable.

The results were pretty interesting. But as there were only 75 respondents, it’s hard to say if they apply to all bloggers. Nevertheless, they make for some interesting observations of blogging trends.

For instance, results of the study showed that:

— 31 per cent of bloggers use their real name on blogs, while 69 per cent use an alias.

— 45 per cent have put up a photograph of themselves on their blog.

— 98.67 per cent bloggers allowed readers to comment.

— 44 per cent used trackback.

— 84 per cent of the respondents leave their emails on blogs.

— 45.3 per cent use guest books.

— 2.7 per cent use shoutboxes.

— 5.3 per cent don’t provide contact information on blogs.

Regarding the content of the blog, most respondents’ entries covered personal experience only, while others expanded the range of issues they wrote about, such as news, political issues, technology, hobbies, professions, academics and entertainment.

This writer got in touch with the student behind the study. When asked why he chose this topic for his study, Li said, “I am personally interested in the interaction of people and the internet. I first learned about blogs from http://blog.cnblog.org/, a community blog maintained by a group of people who introduced the concept in China. The more I go into the blogosphere, the more I want to delve into it from the perspective of communication. Compared to other forms of computer-mediated communication such as instant messengers, BBS, IRC, the concept of blog fits better into the definition of mass communication.” Li feels that blogs are a challenging subject and it is perhaps for this reason that not many studies have been conducted on the subject. “I believe studies on blog would be a key branch in the realm of computer-mediated communication but some fundamental studies are needed to pave the road for the future research. I want to be in the camp of explorers and apply what I learn in class into the real world. That’s why I did the survey on the topic,” he adds.

According to Li, there are five basic reasons why more and more people are choosing to blog — self-expression, storage of information, interpersonal communication, technical convenience and practical reasons. “Blogs are exclusive personal columns to publish ideas and comment on news. Theoretically, an average person can have his/her voice heard by millions of people and that doesn’t cost a lot.” Then there are others who use blogs to tell friends and families about their lives, especially when they are away from family. Li feels the “built-in functions like comments and trackbacks make blogs more resemble call-in radio shows. Bloggers broadcast like emcees and audiences have the options to comment on certain topics and have a conversation with emcees. Furthermore, some people blog to practice writing; some do it to make some money; and some use it to organize thoughts.”

Interestingly enough, Li’s study hardly included group and website blogs into account. “I do notice the rise of community blogs and think they would promote a sense of community among bloggers. However, I deliberately avoided such blogs in my survey in consideration of the operalization of my research. I hypothesize that bloggers from group blogs would be different from those maintaining single blogs in terms of motivations and would expect studies conducted from the perspective of organizational communication,” he said, when asked about this phenomenon.

So there you have it — another attempt to define the motives and uses of blogging. It remains to be seen whether or not there will be similar studies in future. But the fact that these studies are being carried out reflects the increasing importance of studying the trends in the blogosphere, along with maintaining one’s own blog.

Mean Std. deviation

Because it is fun 4.04 .796

Because I just want to do it 4.04 .667

I can write things at my own pace 4.07 .777

To record my thoughts and opinions 4.04 .706

To find someone of similar interests 3.32 1.029

4: Agree 5: Strongly Agree