Though they’ve been around since 1994, blogs (weblogs) have only recently exploded in popularity: Currently, roughly 39% of all web users comprise their audience. Countless articles and news reports have considered the cultural impact of these Internet publications, which display entries in reverse chronological order. In July, one of the first statistical analyses was just published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Their findings, though not surprising for those familiar with the genre, provide a clearer picture of what, for many web users, is a vague and confusing phenomenon.
The survey found that about 8% of net users (12 million American adults) keep a blog and of those, 54% are under age 30. Most bloggers (37%) write about personal experiences, like one would jot in a diary. Though politics and entertainment came in next with 11% and 7% respectively, the most popular and most significant blogs fall into these categories. As of press time, news site The Drudge Report (www.drudgereport.com) had seen 3,526,325,881 visitors in 2006. Like many blogs, the site collects important stories from across the Internet to filter the overwhelming information stream for savvy readers. It also makes its own headlines. The site was the first outlet to break the story of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, among others. Perhaps the web’s most popular entertainment blog—and definitely its most entertaining—PerezHilton.com, recently surpassed the two-million-visitor-a-day mark. The site is indispensable for any pop culture maven and suitable for anyone looking for a laugh. Its author, the eponymous Perez (Mario Lavandeira), uses his LA connections to break stories such as Brangelina.
Even though these sites pride themselves on existing outside the confines of traditional journalism, critics say that a disregard for such standards makes them unreliable news sources. Indeed, the Pew study found that just over one-third of bloggers verify facts or link source material, 89% neglect to post corrections and 61% never or rarely get permission to use copyrighted material. Drudge, for example, has been forced to print retractions and even faced a $30 million libel lawsuit in 2001. The current state of journalism, though, especially in the U.S., is regrettably not that different. The disillusionment and cynicism that drives many readers to independent blogs means that readers take such publications with a grain of salt. As such traditional print publications as US Weekly and The Washington Post develop and present their own blogs, it’s clear that blogs are only just beginning.
