It's a Blog, Blog, Blog World: Users and Uses of Weblogs

Abstract

This study surveyed 3,747 Weblog readers online from April 23, 2003, to May 22, 2003, to examine their motives for using Weblogs. Weblog users tend to be young, highly educated men with high incomes. Respondents report moderate to high levels of trust in government, high self-efficacy, and high interest in political and general news. A factor analysis revealed six primary motivations for accessing Weblogs: information seeking and media check, convenience, personal fulfillment, political surveillance, social surveillance, and expression and affiliation. Additionally, hierarchical regression found that political involvement predicted all six Weblog motivations. Further, each of the independent variables predicted at least one of the Weblog motivations.