Blogs Not Yet in the Media Big Leagues

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.

-- Benjamin Franklin

PRINCETON, NJ -- Whether they are seeking immortality or just letting off steam, Web bloggers are multiplying in number and are seemingly affecting American media and political insiders, at the very least. But whether bloggers are directly influencing the broader public is questionable. According to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, relatively few Americans are generally familiar with the phenomenon of blogging, in which individuals, ranging from famous to anonymous, post running narratives of their thoughts and observations on whatever interests them. 

Three-quarters of the U.S. public uses the Internet at work, school, or home, but only one in four Americans are either very familiar or somewhat familiar with blogs (the shortened form of the original "Web logs"). More than half, 56%, have no knowledge of them. Even among Internet users, only 32% are very or somewhat familiar with blogs.

More to the point, fewer than one in six Americans (15%) read blogs regularly (at least a few times a month). Just 12% of Americans read blogs dealing specifically with politics this often. Among Internet users, the numbers are similarly low: 19% and 15%, respectively.

Web Logs Dish Up Low "Ratings"

Political commentator and prolific blogger Andrew Sullivan calls blogging "opinion journalism" and "democratic journalism." In May 2002, he wrote a "Must Read" article for Wired magazine titled, "The Blogging Revolution," in which he touted blogs as the next big thing:

This, at least, is the idea: a publishing revolution more profound than anything since the printing press. Blogger could be to words what Napster was to music -- except this time, it'll really work. Check back in a couple of years to see whether this is yet another concept that online reality has had the temerity to destroy.

Well, it has been almost three years, and, while blogging is certainly wielding some influence in media and political circles, traditional news outlets are still the dominant sources of information for the American public. (Blogging is also so new that the 2003 edition of Microsoft Word thinks it's a typo at this writing.)

According to a December 2004 Gallup Poll, the percentage of Americans getting their news on a daily basis from the mainstream media is 51% for local television news, 44% for local newspapers, 39% for cable news networks, 36% for the nightly broadcast network news, and 21% for radio talk shows. By contrast, only 3% of Americans say they read Internet blogs every day, and just 2% read politics-focused blogs daily.

Blogs Reading Defines Generations

Blog readers are younger than the population at large. Although 17% of the public is aged 18 to 29, a quarter of all blog readers (those who read even occasionally) are in this age bracket. At the older extreme, 17% of Americans are 65 and older, but only 6% of blog readers are this old.

This age skew reflects both the younger demographic of the Internet-connected universe as well as a greater likelihood of young people on the Internet, compared with older Internet users, to gravitate toward blogs.

Said differently, monthly-plus readership of blogs is 21% among 18- to 29-year olds, 16% among those 30 to 49, 14% among those 50 to 64 and just 7% among those 65 and older.

The age gap in blog reading is particularly noteworthy because it is a complete reversal of the typical age pattern gap for news consumption. Gallup finds Americans' use of all traditional news media to be positively correlated with age. (For instance, only 32% of 18- to 29-year-olds read a local paper every day, versus 61% of those 65 and older.)

Gallup finds no gender differences in blog readership, or according to party affiliation. There are slight differences by political outlook, as about a quarter of liberals (24%) say they read blogs at least monthly, compared with 15% of conservatives and 12% of moderates.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,008 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Feb. 25-27, 2005. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 788 Internet users, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 297 adults who read "blogs" on the Internet, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±6 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

37. Do you, personally, use the Internet at your home, place of work, or school?

38. As you may know, there are Web sites known as "blogs" or "Web logs," where people sometimes post their thoughts. How familiar are you with "blogs" -- very familiar, somewhat familiar, not too familiar, or not at all familiar?

39. How often do you, personally, read "blogs" on the Internet -- every day, a few times a week, a few times a month, less often than that, or never?

40. And how often do you, personally, read "blogs" that deal with political issues -- every day, a few times a week, a few times a month, less often than that, or never?