A Sunny Forecast for the ‘Blogosphere’

“More women! More traditional media! More mobile!” is the battle cry you heard coming from the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Los Angeles last week. A new study from Technorati says that changes in the blogosphere are blurring the lines between traditional and digital media. And for writers and marketers who spend their days blogging for business, this is good news.

The study, entitled “State of the Blogosphere 2011,” reports that the percentage of male bloggers, at 59 percent, is down from last year’s 64 percent, showing concrete proof that women are blogging more. This is fantastic and confirms our suspicions that women, who already make up the majority of blog audiences, are now creating blogs of their own. Women bloggers are big business and are creating a boom not seen since the days of “ladies’ magazines.”

Traditional media outlets are also getting in on the blogging action. The study points out that every major publication now has blogs and those blogs are often relied upon not only to comment on news stories but break news, as well. For marketers and digital publicists, blog writers have become valuable and more accessible media contacts, so this too is another good development.

Lastly, the expo and the study alike display enthusiasm about the future of blogging and how mobile fits into that picture. Thanks to iPhones, Droids and Blackberries, blog readers are now keeping up with their favorite blogs on their phones. Naturally, content creation and blog creation on smartphones is a developing frontier but an exciting one for bloggers and marketers alike.

Rick Calvery, the co-founder and CEO of the expo, stresses that blogs remain relevant.

“It cannot be stressed enough that blogs are still the center of the social media universe,” Calvery said in an interview with CNN.

We agree with Calvery. The more blogs are legitimized, the more our own blogs are likely to reach bigger audiences. But let’s hear from you, our astute readers. What is the next big thing in blogging? Educate us in the comments section below!