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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)

Although no certain group of leaders has come together and decided to give bloggers influence over political opinion, it is surely reality that bloggers are “influentials”. I do not believe that bloggers are a real representation of “the people” at this point in time. However, it doesn’t really matter who or what bloggers represent, whether it be the minority, the majority, women, or men, the fact is that they are having an impact on political opinion . The recognition of blogs is growing very quickly, and because of this I believe that in the future bloggers will better represent the people. Blogging is a “safe” way to cast your political opinion with no consequence. This comfortable way of having a voice will only grow in popularity. And because there is less pressure involved in blogging, ideas from blogs will be of a more inspiring, and open-minded nature.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterbestseller
Blogging is a way to get your opinions out there without having to worry about stage-fright and other confrontations. There are too many times when a unique idea pops into a shy person’s head and leads nowhere because that person is not going to say anything, at least not out loud. Any person can just sit at a computer and say what is on their mind. The worst thing that could happen is another anonymous person disagreeing with what you wrote. I agree that most bloggers are males for the same reason they are politicians, women are shy when it comes to things like that. I do still think that women blog just for different reasons than a man. A woman will get on a blog site and look to see other ideas that she hasn’t thought of yet and learn more about the topic. I see a man getting on the same site just to argue his point and make it known. Either way, they are successful in making us more knowledgeable as a population.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterShuga
With only having very little knowledge of blogging, generally speaking, I can come up with an understanding that blogging can be a positive way of expressing ones opinion as appose to a negative aspect. In my opinion, I feel that the blogging process allows you to express how you feel, especially in terms of politics. I believe that everyone has a right to their own opinion, and blogging allows you to be heard through words. It creates different perspectives that can allow other viewers to think abroad and possibly come up with or form a better solution or answer to a problem. I think blogging can be beneficial as long as it stays in a respectable manner.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterciji
Blogging is just another way for someone to complain about their problems for everyone to see. The sad part is that no one really cares. But on the other hand blogging could be something great. Bloggers could share their wealth of knowledge with each other and answer each others questions. I have even posted on a few forums about things I didn't understand or needed help figuring out and received more help then was actually needed. Blogging is a decent way of debating on subjects where both parties can put their points on the table. Although when debates are posted nothing really gets done, in the process it just creates a bunch of frustration between the two parties where both parties just walk away more pissed at each other then they were before the debate. There are too many stubborn close minded people in the world for something like blogging to work to its fullest extent. That is why something like blogging could be something great but just falls short of its full glory.
January 24, 2006 | Unregistered Commenter Mister MaTtheW
At first, I had a negative oppinion about bloggers because I camplared them to a face to face interview. For example, for the "man on the street reacting to the news story" I felt that your true feelings can be expressed better in person because there are only so much you can express in typing. For example, a reader might understand a sentence you wrote totally different of how you meant it. Instead, in person you can articulate and use body language to truely explain how you feel.Yes these things may be true, but now I definatly feel differently from learning exactly what blogging is. I realized the conveneince of it and how it may be more accurate than a face to face oppinion. The good thing about blogging is that any one can do it. I mean there are only so many people you can speak to in person to get their oppion on a subject. Then I realized how more accurate blogging may be compared to a face to face oppinion. A blogger can actually sit down for a while and truely think of what he has to say before typing. A person may not get to express how they truely feel in person because of the time at hand. Also, having no true identity helps because the blogger holds nothing back therefore expresses how he truely feels! Moreover, I love the fact that a blogger can be anyone and truely feel bloggers have a positive affect to the media.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commentersunshine44
While realizing this is a political blog, I must mention that I believe political blogs make up a very small portion of blog activity on the Internet. Minor details aside, I have been reading blogs for quite some time now. While they have mainly related to web development, I still believe my thoughts to be accurate of all bloggers. I'm not sure on your meaning of "Are bloggers the 'people'?", but I believe that they are people that are interested in, devoted to and just plain in love with a particular subject enough to spend the time sharing and discussing it with others. Not only that, but they must also feel they are wise enough on the subject(s) to be discussing the matters openly.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterZer0Cool
Like others have stated before, I had little understanding of what the term blog meant before reading the articles. However, I do find the whole concept very interesting. I believe that blogging is a great informal way to host discussions over the internet to mass groups of people. Blogging should definitely always be considered informal though and never be considered as “the people”. When hosting a public blog you never really know how creditable the source is and therefore it is only an opinion of an anonymous person or persons. Furthermore, there are plenty of people who do not have access to a computer or are just to shy to voice their opinion onto a blog, making it impossible for one to consider any blog “the people”.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterMike
“Who are bloggers?” Just by reading a few comments, I think it is obvious. Bloggers are strongly opinionated people who want to get their voice out. I don’t necessarily think it represents “the people” as a whole, but I do think it represents the vast number of people who want to express their feelings without being held accountable for it. As to whether they are dominated by males or females, I don’t think it really matters. Blogs are created for people to express their concerns on a particular subject, and male or female, everyone has their own opinion. Of course, there are always going to be those hardheaded individuals who take pride in stomping on others’ beliefs, but blogs are the perfect place for them. As citizens, we have a right to freedom of speech, and I think blogging is a great way of expressing that.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterCJ
I think that this article will really can change peoples minds about who is active on the internet. I was very unaware that bloggers tend to be young males from the upper-middle class. I would suspect that most bloggers are in their teens or younger since it is a new web resource and those that grew up without it would be less inclined to such a habit as ranting on a website. I would be very interested to hear where these statistics came from. As for the political bloggers, do we know what side of the political spectrum these people mainly come from? This would bring us back to the #1 fact about bloggers, “they are not a good representation of the people”. The fact that the people who blog are very much a small minority and can almost be pigeonholed into exactly their demographic make me not rely on what blogs have to say.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterstarp023
The blogging world is definitely growing among high school to college aged people. In my own experience, I have noticed that typically the ones who blog the most are females. It seems to be a way of expressing one’s self and revealing thoughts that maybe he or she did not feel comfortable saying but for some reason find it appropriate for all to read. Given that females are more prone to wanting to express their feelings more than males, this is a good medium for that.
As far as political blogging goes, I am not familiar with what gender of person does this more, but can see how it would be one way to not only keep the web-journal readers posted, but also express viewpoints in a clearer, more public and easily accessible way.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterLAArmwrestler23
I disagree with Mister MaTthew's opinion that "blogging is just another way for someone to complain about their problems for everyone to see." Quite clearly, yes, that may be the purpose of some bloggers. But that's certainly not the main purpose. He goes on to say that blogging "could be something great." Perhaps it already is? Some of the things he mentions, several bloggers already do. But to answer the question "Who are Bloggers?," bloggers are just everyday people with their own opinions willing to share those opinions with the world, whether that be through a political blog, MySpace, or even sites such as LiveJournal.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterDiva1985
This blog has greatly opened my eyes to the art of blogging. I usually spend my time on the internet chatting with friends or reading the news. The only time that I have personally come across blogging is on a website such as Myspace. It is news to me that "blogging" is something more than teenagers sharing their inner-most thoughts or the happenings of their typical high school life. I find it to be a great way for adults to get across their ideas to people all over. As far as politics goes, it can be very beneficial. Say a liberal person comes from a largely conservative area, they are able to find a group of bloggers as a support system. The only downfall of blogging I can see is people bashing other peoples thoughts. I find that to be rather childish. But other thank that I think that blogging is something that has potential and will become more and more popular.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commentergoldenboy
I have no doubt that political blogs will continue to gain popularity in the years to come. However, I believe this popularity to overwhelmingly increase in the demographic that currently dominates political blogs. These blogs offer little to spark the interest of the younger generation who would rather spend their time on a computer playing games or checking their MySpace. Even for those of age to vote, political issues often fall on deaf ears no matter what form of media is presenting them. The idea of blogging suggests that the same apathetic youth would have to actively seek out said information when the interest simply is not there. Therefore, I believe in the utility of political blogs for those who are concerned with political issues, yet I do not see such blogs drawing the attention of the younger population who very well could be a powerful voting group if properly activated.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commenterbet01
Blogging can have a bad reputation among some types of people. For me personally, before reading these blogs I had no interests in them whatsoever. I saw blogs as way for people to vent about stuff that annoys them or just another way for high school kids to keep in touch with each other. After reading some blogs I realized that blogging can be an extremely effective way to express one’s opinion. It is apparent now that bloggers are of all ages, races, and sexes. Blogging is on the rise and it will only gain momentum as a popular medium for people to express themselves. I find that now I am more open to blogging and will be perusing ones that catch my attention in the future.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterPKnox
I have to say that before I read this blog, I assumed that most bloggers were young adults or teenagers. I remember when the internet was all the rage with instant messaging and chat rooms when I was in high school, and I have a few friends that are into the blogs and myspace nowadays, but I just had no idea that there were so many people into blogging, especially the social groups that were mentioned. I never got into the blogging, but just decided to check it out and it’s so much more than I expected. Once I dug into it, I would have to agree that the majority is middle class white males. I would assume that the next big group would be young females. I don’t believe that blogs represent “the people” though, because there’s so many that don’t know much about it, me being one of them. And with that I have to say that “the people” aren’t being represented equally, but that the people are being influenced by the majority of bloggers.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commentercowgirl
Throughout my experiences with internet surfing, i have found that there are more female bloggers out there than male. However, my personal experiences can no way account for the majority of bloggers out there. I have found that when reading blogs about personal life experiences and problems, it is the female majority out there posting these blogs. Females will post blogs about their life, whats wrong with it, and who cheated on who last week, which differs from males, who really could care less.

I find that blogging is ones way to let our personal distress and to summarize their feelings in a few paragraphs, if blogging works for one, whether female or male, than it is useful, and can be persuassive if coming from an higher authority.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterchoppaCHOP
I agree with some of the posts made above, saying that bloggers are just people writing diary entries for people who care to read them. I believe that they are just people trying to voice their opinions without other people knowing who they are. They can write whatever they want and no one would know who they are. I also agree that bloggers only write about things they find important. If the subject is not something the blogger cares about, or is not interested in, then they are not going to worry about writing their opinion. I believe political bloggers are different though. I now know that the majority of political bloggers are actually higher educated males. I believe that they blog on important issues and that they don't do it just to be heard. Finally, I believe most of them probably blog on more issues than just the ones they are interested in.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterGenLEE24
I personally have never participated in blogging until now. After reading about it, I realized that it is a very useful way to express one's opinion to a fairly significant audience. I believe that blogging will only become more and more common as internet access becomes more widespread as well as more inexpensive. Technology seems to be advancing almost by the day and this will only expedite the process of transforming the internet into an essential in every home comparable to the radio before television. Once internet becomes this common, I think blogging will be much more customary and bloggers will expand beyond the stereotypical 20-30 year old range. Bloggers represent those who refuse to be ignorant and want others to know their opinion.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterSAS10
First of all there is a great difference between Political bloggers and those who share their opinions via the Internet about trivial subjects such as Hollywood’s newest breakup. Political bloggers may very well be influential and from the white male, upper class demographic but because that seems to be the largest group of people concerned about major political issues because it concerns them most.
Taking the time to post your opinion on the Internet means that the issue being discussed is particularly important to you and you feel that what you have to say is somewhat unique and worth reading. To educated older males this may even be a hobby and they could take pride in their blogging. Also people could blog just to feel associated with a group, especially with the medium of the Internet, not being face to face, inhibitions are lowered concerning the fear of rejection, because no one really knows who you are.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commentercarolinalouis
I think bloggers might not represent the whole human population but of course they represent a portion. It is your choice to blog and when you do and others go to that information and make deductions then your voice is being heard. If you choose to blog then you choose to be heard. Bloggers are just normal everyday people voicing their opinion in hopes of being heard and seen. They don’t have the fear of being judged because what they say is their opinion and they have a right to it. Some people may be underrepresented but its their choice to do so. Speak your mind and be heard.
January 25, 2006 | Unregistered Commenternikez39
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