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Who are Bloggers? Who Do Bloggers Represent?

UPDATED: It is normal now, when a big news story breaks, that anchors will "go to the blogs," inviting bloggers on-air for comment, or taking some sort of "pulse of the blogs." In some ways, thus, blogs have taken the place of the "man-on-the-street-reacting-to-news-story" interview typically employed by television journalism. But what do we know about who blogs? Are bloggers the "people"?

This is a complicated question but one that many politicians and journalists are asking.

I will discuss the subject at length in my book, but see my short essay, ("Are Bloggers 'The People'?") in the "DOCUMENTS" section of the blog (left sidebar).

Main points and tendencies (not universalities) of the blogger profile:

1. Bloggers are not a statistical, representative, scientific cross-section of America--or the world. (Note: So it is wrong for journalists to say "let's go to the blog to hear what the people are saying." Rather go to the blogs to hear what bloggers are saying--but that might be pretty important.

2. Active "A-list" political bloggers--or at least those regularly ranked highest by existing "influence" and "popularity" metrics--in America tend to be male, higher income, higher educated. Non A-list bloggers tend to be much more diverse.

3. At the same time, a huge surge of blogging is occurring in young people, especially young women.

4. Political bloggers do fit the category of "influentials" who may very well affect other people's opinions on issues of the day.

5. Active Political bloggers tend to also be political activists--and potential voters and money-donors.

Update 1: In answer to Rebecca Blood--who, by the way, wrote of the first and one of the best books on blogging--below:

Rebecca: See my longer post ("Are Bloggers 'The People'?") on this in "Documents" section--what I think about "blacks and blogging" probably applies to women as well. We are in a flux period. Among the huge cohort of "MySpace" young bloggers I would bet females do dominate. In fact, in mass comm schools like mine, there are more females than males, as much as a 70-30 split. Among political bloggers, I think males dominate in raw numbers, and in terms of the who-is-on-top lists. That said, blogging is so young that we have no idea how each subgenre will develop, demographically or psychograhically. One thing I do hear from my female students is that the name-calling, profane trolls and personal attacks that are so much a part of political blogging turns them off. (Deborah Tannen might have something to say about that!). But...some of the toughest cookies of the bloglands out there are females: BitchPhd, Pamela (AtlasShrugged), Sister Toldjah, and so on. I agree completely that the present should not guide the past: blogging is about being out the box, and nobody should feel boxed out of blogging.

Update 2: To Elisa Camahort: Yes, if you have looked at the longer document on blogs as "the people" you will see that I completely agree that our existing measuring scales pose many problems. One for me is that quantity is not quality: there are some amazing blogs out there, that, as far as I can tell, have no audience.

Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 at 09:38PM by Registered Commenterdavid.d.perlmutter in , | Comments89 Comments

Reader Comments (89)

I agree that the highly educated white upper-class male pretty much dominates the political blogosphere today, which isn’t surprising because they have dominated American politics throughout the country’s history. However, I think the subject of a particular blog influences who posts on it. For instance, if a group of mostly men are posting blogs about being pro-life, this could inspire an influx of women to post, especially if they do not agree with what is being said.

Today, bloggers only represent a small portion of the American population. It should be interesting to see (as technology advances to being more of a vital part of our daily lives) if political blogging becomes more widespread with minorities and women.
January 23, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterRG3
Bloggers obviously represent themselves. They are people with opinions, and just like the “man-on-the-street-reacting-to-the-news-story” may have opinions that may seem bizarre or not relative or aggressive, as do bloggers. And just like some people jump up and down behind a news camera for attention, there are people who post just to be noticed or to create attention to themselves.
Political Bloggers--or at least those regulary ranked highest by existing "influence" and "popularity" metrics--in America tend to be male, higher income, higher educated.
This is simply a mirror image of who is most influential and popular in politics in the “real world.” It was also stated that there is a surge in the number of young bloggers especially, young women, and I believe this is so because a post is gender, age, racial, etc. free. America’s youth is realizing that they can express their views and not feel inferior through blogging. In this way, blogs are able to reach more people because more people feel comfortable or are able to post their thoughts free of personal criticism.
Bloggers are simply America’s citizens: the educated, the well-informed, the crazies, and the ignorant.
January 23, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterweAREpeople
I feel that bloggers are represented by more technically advanced and computer literate people. This group of people tends to consist of people of younger ages, between 20 and 30, however I feel it can apply to anyone.

I do agree that blog sites such as LiveJournal and MySpace have made blogging more mainstream and more available to a larger group of people, including younger people of both genders.

I do feel that as we continue to move into a more technologically advanced world, bloggers will begin to represent the population as a whole, more and more, and what we see now is only the beginning of that.
January 23, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterjm86
I thought this was a really interesting question because before I read this discussion, I honestly didn’t know the first thing about “blogging”. After I read the title to this blog, a few thoughts immediately came to mind. Obviously bloggers don’t represent most of the population. This is true because in order to post a blog one has to have access to the internet. The group of internet users can then be broken down to an even smaller group of people because not all internet users care enough to take the time and effort to comment on some matter. Therefore, I agree with most of the main points of the blogger profile. Political bloggers may affect other people’s opinions because the people reading and responding to certain blogs are interested in that issue. Also, political bloggers who make comments on blogs are going to have strong opinions for or against an issue, therefore, will be influential to others agreeing or disagreeing with their opinions.
January 23, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterfish22
Blogging has surprisingly become a powerful tool of communication in the 21st century. Whether you have a PhD, or you are a teenager in high school, blogging allows for an anonymous way to express your views on an issue. This new way of expressing yourself has unleashed a whole new means for a global internet community to come together and share a common discussion ground. With that said, you cannot believe everything you read on the internet. When bloggers present facts or percentages in their posts, it is important that the information is verifiable in some way to show its validity. I believe the use of blogs is a great way to discuss an issue of importance due to its world wide availability, which allows anybody from anywhere in the world to easily contribute their opinion on the issue at hand. The internet is a rapidly growing, powerful tool for mass communication.
January 23, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterjrh87
I think that it is very hard to generalize bloggers and their tendencies. The Internet age is making it even harder because people won’t give their personal information and their social status to random people. I assume that we can only generalize male or female in certain blogging environments, for example female generally blog in cooking sites and males are more actively blogging in football sites. I also believe that bloggers own higher education and as well have better access to Internet. But I totally disagree with author about political bloggers and their influence to the audience. I think that people are not taking bloggers seriously and I think that stranger can never influence other person only by posting a comment.
January 23, 2006 | Unregistered Commentershark123
I agree with the opinion of others in that blogs do not represent the people as a whole. I definitely agree with the "blogger profile" and that women and minorities may be under-represented as of yet. I think that this will change as we see more and more young people actively taking part in myspace and things like that as many already are. As these younger generations grow up with these mainstream blogs, they will be introduced to more important blogs that discuss real world problems. As this takes place, I think we will start to see a more accurate representation of the people in the future.

I predict that the population will grow as the subjects of differect blogs grows to discuss a broader range of issues. Simultaneously, the blog "audience" will become broader as will the "blogger profile" thereby showing a more accurate representation of the people.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterstar1
I also agree with most of the comments on this topic. I feel that bloggers more accurately represent middle-aged, educated Americans. Of course there are some older and younger bloggers out there, but I feel that the majority are between 20 and 35. I disagree with the polls that there are more men bloggers than women, even in political blogging. My reasoning for this is simple, “Who likes to gossip more than women?” I am not saying that blogging is all about gossiping. I am just saying that women are more likely to get on the internet and express their views about a topic. I also think that women feel like they are being listened to in a blog. I know that society claims that men and women are equal, but we all know that women are still ignored entirely too much.

I am guessing that blogging will be dominated by women in the future as well. I just cannot fathom more men than women ever signing on to the internet to discuss their point of view.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterblogboy54
Before reading this post, I believed that the majority of bloggers were teenagers and young adults who just used blogging to get things off of their chests. Their blogs were simply diary entries that were meant to be read by anyone who had interest in what they had to say. I had never heard anything of political bloggers, and it surprised me to see that the majority of them were higher-educated males.

While I now see that there is a wider range of bloggers out there, I still do not believe that bloggers represent “the people.” I know plenty of people, including myself, who never or very rarely participate in blogging. I have ideas and opinions, I just keep them to myself, or I express them in other ways. Bloggers represent the people who want their opinions heard and discussed upon, but they don’t represent “the people” as a whole.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterJfizzle
Blogging seems to be a very recent concept, and is certainly not yet used by many people except by highly educated people. I belive that the statistic about men with higher incomes being more into blogging is true. But, since it's relitively new, and also because more women are obtaining higher incomes than before, this statistic will quickly change. I also believe this statistic is changing because of recently created blogs for younger people, such as myspace, as mentioned. Men may have previously been the ones to be more interested in politics and business statistically, but I believe this to be changing very quickly in today's society. Soon this statistic will not be entirely true, and I believe it will be more equally balanced between men and women.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterhlkswu
I agree and disagree with Rebecca on a few things. First of all, I do not believe that there is any real difference in the amount of female and male bloggers. I would consider myself tom be on the cutting edge of the Internet, and through my experiences, I have come to find that it almost evenly divided these days. In the early days of the Internet, females were rare, but today, they are just as prevelant as men. Blogging is something that is incrediblty new. There are just as many female bloggers as there are males. It is still much to early to speculate at where it is heading. The author mentioned "MySpace" blogs and political blogs. These are two completely different things. The "MySpace" blogs are usually very informal, and just act as an e-journal for the user. The political blogs are more of an informative and formal read. I do not think its really fair to compare the two. Blogging is just one of the new, up-and-coming things that we will all have to watch.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterLeetSteve
I did not know very much about blogs a week ago so doing research on them was very interesting to me. After reading many different types of blogs I have to disagree with the opnion that there are more men bloggers than women. It may be true that more men have blogs directed towards politics but because of this it is not fair to say that there are more men bloggers. While researching online I found there are many woman support blogs for breast cancer, and women in abusive relationships.I also disagree with the statement that blogs are used mainly by upper middle class americans.Many young students that attend public schools have found out about web sites such as The Facebook or MySpace where they can gossip and keep up to date with their blogs. Theses students may be from a lower class but they still have access to a computer where they can update their blog everyday just like anyone else.Blogs that deal with politics are trying to make a strong statement but there are many blogs that all differet types of people use just for fun.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterbabs125
Before I read the post, “Who are Bloggers? Who Do Bloggers Represent?”, I had little knowledge about who is partaking in this new craze of blogging. I barely even knew what blogging was. I agree with the post about how bloggers are not necessarily a good representation of “the people” due to ethnic, economic, and educational circumstances. I believe most bloggers are between the ages of 15-30 and come from middle to upper class families. I think blogging can be used to distribute information in many influential ways and in the future could become one of the most common forms of communication. Blogging also allows a variety of people to voice their opinion through the internet, whereas in the past this was not as readily available. Another area where Blogging is being used is in the classroom. Blog sites are starting to be used in college classes, which gives students opportunities to participate in classes through the internet. Blogging allows anyone to be able to voice their opinions through the internet, which I think will entice many to follow this new trend of blogging.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterAL2411
Blogging is a new concept that has taken the internet world by storm. A variety of people have latched on to the new trend. I, personally, don't agree with some of the other comments which say that only highly educated people are using blogs. This is the case with political blogs, of course, but the "world" of blogs is so vast that it ranges from young teens to older, more educated adults.

I do agree that there is a higher percentage of men with higher incomes and a higher education when it comes to political blogs only because the political make-up of America is dominated by men, those having higher incomes and educations.

The blogs used for mere entertainment among teens such as MySpace, LiveJournal or Xanga are a totally different field when it comes to defining who the "bloggers" are. Time will be our only tool in determining the demography of who bloggers actually are because there is no telling where the blogging world will head within the years to come. I think the boundaries are limitless.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterBlogGirl32
When discussing blogging, I'm not really sure that the bloggers of MySpace and political bloggers should be categorized together by any means. These are two very different ways to blog that attract two very different types of audiences. Many young bloggers of MySpace have MySpace webpages for the mere idea of networking, not to spread an idea and hope for feedback. Also, many MySpaces offer an extensive profile that can be edited. That gives people the opportunity to obtain any identity they would like. A 12 year old child that has any computer knowledge can copy and paste a picture of any celebrity and pose as that celebrity. This is why MySpace is not a reliable resource to help find out who actually blogs. Politicial bloggers, on the other hand, do have something that might actually be significant to say. So, many of the people that read and respond to these actually do have an opinion and are a more reliable source to finding out whether or not bloggers are actually "the people".
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterstarbright
In this article it is stated that political bloggers in America are typically male, higher income, and higher educated. This point may hold truth since the political aspect of America is predominantly male but the idea that they have a higher income and higher education is false. Just as technology grows through blogs, so do careers. Being a female in America is empowering, the job market is expanding and females are not slowing down. Females are now beginning to climb the corporate ladder and make higher income than males. With this in mind, the ideas that political bloggers in America are males with higher incomes and higher education is questionable- now as women are becoming fearless so are her political voices (through blogs and such).

Since blogging is quickly taking over the Internet world it is hard to come up with a statistic of what sex, income, and education the typical blogger is.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterBoo
I created my very own blog for certain members of my family to read. It’s a way for them to know what’s going on in my life and head without me having to repeat myself 10 times. Even if my family didn’t read my blog, I would still blog. It’s a great way to express yourself whether or not there is an audience. I believe political bloggers feel the same way about their blogs. That is why I feel that the two different types of blogs could be categorized together. The two different types of writers have the same reasons for blogging.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterRaggedyann490
Who are bloggers? Who do bloggers represent? To be honest I have no clue. Being an individual of somewhat traditional origins, I tend scoff at all of the latest, greatest advancements that seem to be popping up at an alarming rate. My stance has always been that was has worked for me for years will continue to work, and that if I am coerced by society into constantly conforming to what is new, cool, and technologically more advanced than what I had before, that I will continually find myself with an empty bank account and more and more stuff that I don't need. The point is, I am presenting a non-biased response to a question about a topic that a mere five minutes ago I had never previously pondered. I believe that the basic structure and purpose of blogs/blogging is promising because it has the potential to expand the human mind to new heights. Never before have all people (not just the white, rich American men) had an opportunity to get there voice out and be heard, and also an opportunity to consider millions of other opinions. What many people have been fighting for for years has finally arrived. Despite ongoing social restraints, people now have the chance to be a voice without a face. You can be a quadriplegic, African American, Jewish 12 year-old and still put your opinion out there for consideration. With ideas and opinions swirling about, surely some good is to come of this. Geniuses everywhere without the proper medium surely have been waiting in silent anticipation for this moment. Now back to the original question, who are the bloggers? I hope that they are black, white, Asian, Mexican, male, female, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, young, old, rich, poor, etc. These people all have one astoundingly vital yet often overlooked thing in common, the human mind. Blogging to me, in conclusion, is or will become basically one big supercomputer of anyone's thoughts about any given subject, no matter the depth, and no matter the label that our former, more primitive society may have placed on them.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterdrewchoj123
To be honest, I do not have the slightest clue who bloggers represent. I have only recently been informed of the existence of blogs, and until this assignment I have never read one. I do know that blogs are also unfamiliar to most of the people I know. Therefore, blogs to me do not represent the American population. There is no doubt that there is an entire group/culture of people whose voice is represented by the comments on the vast amount of blogs. The most I can say about this subject of blogging is that bloggers are people who have an opinion about a certain topic and want their opinion to be heard. The blogger can be any person, which I guess is the beauty of it
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterekh123
Although I have little knowledge about internet blogs and bloggers, I feel that it is something that is on the rise and can be efficient. It comments on the fact that males with high incomes and a better education tend to be bloggers. This may be true now, but I think as more and more blogs are posted, more and more varieties of people will be exposed to these things. Some people find that the make-up of bloggers being male is controversial. I find this to be false. I think it is only a way of communicating through writing your own opinion on the internet. Something controversial would be something that happened years ago when people were politically fighting for their rights.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterThatGuy1
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