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More than half of Americans never read political blogs

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Are people really reading political blogs? The answer is no, as over half of Americans (56%) say they never read blogs that discuss politics. Just under one-quarter (23%) say that they read them several times a year and just 22 percent of Americans read blogs regularly (several times a month or more).

These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,302 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 15 and 22, 2008 by Harris Interactive.

While it could be said that blogs are just a younger person’s folly, in our study this is not the case. Just one in ten (19%) Echo Boomers (those aged 18-31) regularly read a political blog and only 17 percent of Gen Xers (those aged 32-43) say the same. Matures (those aged 63 and older) are actually the generation most likely to be political blog readers as just over one-quarter (26%) say they regularly do so followed by 23 percent of Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62). Also, one hears of the rabid blogs on both sides of the political aisle, but just 22 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of Democrats regularly read blogs. Independents are the ones slightly more likely to read these, as just over one-quarter (26%) say they regularly read political blogs.

Looking at those who regularly do read political blogs, over half (54%) read one or two at least once a week with an additional 22 percent reading 3-4 at least once a week. And, while they may read these, they do not comment on them. Over two-thirds (69%) of those who regularly read blogs did not comment on one in the previous week. Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to comment. One-third of Republicans (34%) commented in the previous week compared to 28 percent of Democrats.

One of the criticisms about blogs is their accuracy. Since anyone can write a blog or comment on one, there is no sense of fact checking. Well, only one in five (22%) regular blog readers say the information they read on blogs is less accurate when compared to the mainstream media while three in ten (30%) say it is more accurate and almost half (48%) say just as accurate. Besides accuracy, there is also a value issue. When compared to the mainstream media, one-third of regular blog readers (33%) say the information they read on blogs is more valuable, half (49%) say just as valuable and just 18 percent say it is less valuable. Republicans are more likely to find value (41%) and accuracy (37%) in the information they read on blogs than Democrats are (25% and 21% respectively).

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Originally posted on March 10, 2008 @ 10:09 am

BlogCatalog launches portable social network activity aggregator widget

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BlogCatalog.com, a social network for bloggers, has a launched a widget that makes it easy for bloggers to display their social activity, from the most popular social networks, right on their own blogs. Networks include: Amazon Wishlists, BlogCatalog, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, Multiply, MySpace, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Twitter and YouTube.

The widget was developed while BlogCatalog was testing its dashboard aggregation feature. The dashboard allows BlogCatalog member bloggers to track the activities of friends across social networks. The social widget is a convenient way for bloggers to broadcast their individual activities across multiple networks anywhere they choose to display the widget.

BlogCatalog has evolved from a blog directory to a vibrant member-driven online community with tools, features, widgets, and forums that help bloggers connect. More than 100,000 approved bloggers interact on BlogCatalog every day.

Originally posted on March 7, 2008 @ 1:36 pm

Six Apart developing native TypePad iPhone application

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281756_6a_logo_hirez.jpgSix Apart is developing a native TypePad mobile application for the iPhone with the soon to be released iPhone Software Developer’s Kit (SDK).

TypePad and Movable Type customers already benefit from an optimized iPhone blogging interface through their device’s web browser. iPhone users are able to keep their TypePad and Movable Type blogs updated with the touch of a finger.

Originally posted on March 6, 2008 @ 10:48 am

Automattic makes a move to social networking with BuddyPress acquisition

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wordpress-logo.gifAutomatic, the parent company of popular blogging platform WordPress, has acquired WP plug-in series BuddyPress to mark its ambitious move to social networking and perhaps challenge dominance players like MySpace and Facebook.

BuddyPress is a suite of plugins that will completely transform WordPress MU into a fully functional social network platform. Thanks to its $29.5 million funding raised in January 2008, it has gained some flexibility to explore different areas to sustain its continued growth. WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg explains the rationale for this acquisition:

It’s clear that the future is social. Connections are key. WordPress MU is a platform which has shown itself to be able to operate at Internet-scale and with BuddyPress we can make it friendlier. Someday, perhaps, the world will have a truly Free and Open Source alternative to the walled gardens and open-only-in-API platforms that currently dominate our social landscape.

This is an opportune time to partake in the social networking market for niche sites are expected to boom in the years to come.

via ReadWriteWeb

Originally posted on March 5, 2008 @ 12:00 pm

Blogged.com launches, aims to connect bloggers and readers

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blogged.pngBlogged.com officially open its doors today in public beta inviting bloggers and readers to connect through its unique online discovery, exploration, and sharing community.

Its goal is to help blog authors connect with their audience and to allow readers to discover new and interesting blogs in the directory. Blogged.com already contains a database of over 200,000 qualified, English language blogs – one of the largest on the Internet.

The company’s staff of fulltime editors maintains the integrity and value of blogs listed in its directory, eliminating the frustration of filtering out spam or irrelevant results associated with existing blog services. Editors evaluate blogs based on frequency, relevance, design, and writing style.

For each blog, there is a detailed overview page where people can learn more, find related blogs, view recent posts with direct links to full posts and also contribute their own reviews in a visually-rich format.

Originally posted on February 25, 2008 @ 10:18 am