Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington.
intlib@ischool.washington.edu
Column for October 2006
People ask where I get column ideas. I’ve previously acknowledged the contributions of game shows, sports, everybody I ever knew in my entire life, wandering around aimlessly at ALA conferences, and so on. I’m modestly chagrined to realize many of the columns have been inspired by reading the New York Times, but inspiration strikes where it will—and here we go again.
A July 20 Times headline—“Survey of the Blogosphere Finds 12 Million Voices”—intrigued me for several reasons. This article was based on yet another fascinating study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which found, based on a telephone poll, that 8% of internet users (12 million American adults) blog and 39% (57 million) read them.
So while blogging isn’t widespread, it is commonplace. Many more juicy statistics that make instructive reading lurk beneath (more than half of bloggers are under 30, more than half live in the suburbs, equal numbers of men and women, nonwhites slightly more likely to blog, and so on).
And what do they blog about? Their lives. Most said they used blogs as personal journals, to express themselves creatively and to document and share their personal experiences. Some are more specialized, on politics, entertainment, sports, and so on, but contrary to what you might think, only a third saw this as some form of journalism.
About half said they blogged mainly for themselves; the research specialist on the project said in the article that “[these] new voices are being read in relatively limited spheres.”
Probably the part of this that most grabbed me was the use of the word “voices” in this context. While that might somewhat more pointedly describe podcasting, it’s apt here as well. It’s easy to dismiss bloggers, representing a stereotype as they often do; it’s harder to dismiss people who are trying to be heard—although it primarily seems they’re simply trying to speak, even without much expectation of ever being heard.
I was already prepared to write about this article and expound on its higher meanings when, two days later, two other articles (yes, in the Times—sue me) appeared. One described a charge of censorship against the Indian government for blocking personal blogs, and another was about a CIA contract employee who said she had been fired for posting an internal blog entry about interrogation methods.
Whether or not either of those stories was entirely true, taken together they bespeak the potential (at least perceived) power of the blog. So I was all set to write about how these cases show the power of the voice and how it can transcend obstacles (my original title was “Voices Will Out”).
Then a dear friend, Ron—a true gentleman, and coincidentally a voracious reader and dedicated, heavy public library user—asked me for advice the other day about finding a blog to read. He’s read and heard about them and is an occasional internet user, so he wanted to know more about these blog things and which one he should read.
Blog-readers advisory
I have to admit that I was stopped dead in my tracks. I told him there were millions, suggested using Technorati to search for things he was interested in, that finding one good blog often led to others linked there but that finding that first good one can be a problem, especially without a clear sense of what you’re looking for. Reading blogs qua blogs ain’t that easy.
Of course, Ron didn’t know that. He told me he assumed there was some central, master list of blogs that he could consult to find ones he might like (sort of like a library catalog). I told him there wasn’t, and gave him more advice I hope he found useful; we’ll see if he’s able to run across some good things to satisfy his curiosity.
It wasn’t until later that I realized I hadn’t told him to consult his local library. OK, duh on me for not thinking of it; I plead momentary panic and the lingering results of a finely prepared gin and tonic. More to the point, Ron—a constant library user—didn’t think of it either. To him and to lots of others, libraries = books, even now. Absolutely nothing wrong with that; however, as voices come in increasingly diverse forms, we have to be perceived as the people who can connect them with the appropriate ears to listen and receive inspiration . . . but that’s another story.