It was interesting to read "Why We Blog." This article written in 2004 was an investigation into the mainstream use of blogging on the internet. The study interviewed several regular bloggers in order to investigate their blogging habits and see why they were truly interested and invested in the blogging world.
The study found that blogs were used for several different reasons. Some used blogs as a way of expressing themselves emotionally. They found it easy to "sort out" their emotions and deal with those emotions in a public forum. Others used blogs as a way to practice their writing skill and prowess.
Many of those surveyed said that blogging was a great way to update their lives so that family, friends, and work colleagues could read about it (of course, this was in an age before Facebook, Twitter, and other social media that are ways of keeping connected). Still, others found blogs to be a great place to grow, improve, and network in a professional sense.
Overall, the authors concluded that blogs were a growing mainstream way to use the internet that was being widely accepted and use in a variety of ways. I would have to agree - blogs are still quite popular and personally, there are several blogs that I read on a weekly basis. Blogs are like a new type of broadcast media, and it's nice because you can read them at your own convenience.
Still, I think the entire internet landscape has drastically changed since this research was done and this article was published. I would be interested to see if/how blog usage is different now in 2014. I think that overall, blogging might be different because of the social media we use everyday.
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