OMG! Is blogging DOA? Last week the Pew Research Center released a report that found blogging has slipped in popularity with teens and young adults. The 28% percent of teen Internet users that said they blogged in 2006 has now slipped to 14%. The study cites social networking and micro-blogging as the cause for the drop in popularity. Basically, kids these days can’t be bothered with long blogs about how their best friend stole their lip gloss when they can just post a quick status update on their Facebook that efficiently describes all of their drama in just a few words.
The study goes on to note that the majority of bloggers are ancient types (over 30 to be exact) who also read other blogs. It’s suggested that the over 30 set has the time and attention span to devote to reading and creating blogs. With specialized and professional blogs seemingly on the rise, it is hard to dispute the reports findings. This being said, let’s not shove blogging in the same category as dinners at four o’clock and Murder She Wrote reruns just yet.
Take a peek at the most read blogs of 2010 so far. Several of the top ten like Mashable, Gizmodo, and Tech Crunch are all blogs geared to upwardly mobile professionals and smart industry types. Even TMZ and Perez Hilton’s readerships are typically the 25 and up group. The Huffington Post definitely has a wide age range of readers but it in no way tries to cater to the Gossip Girl crowd. So all of these demographics, studies, and surveys boil down to blog marketing. Targeting the right readers is important. In short if your blog about accessories for girls isn’t getting read by actual girls, you better make sure Mommy and Daddy are reading it. A slightly more mature group of readers is not necessarily the worst thing in the world. With blog marketing, we can laser in on the correct audience.
So as we head into the weekend, challenge your brain to find new ways to market your blog so it reaches the perfect group of readers, regardless of how old they are.
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