A new Internet-related report confirms something recognized by anyone paying attention: Blogs have become an important, influential part of the media world. Nearly 78 million unique visitors from the U.S. visited a blog during August, says the fifth annual "State of the Blogosphere" study issued last week by Technorati. That's a popular search engine focused on blogs - online journals or news sites created by newspapers, magazines, advocacy groups, businesses and individuals worldwide.

Technorati, which has indexed 133 million blogs since 2002, defines the blogosphere as "the interconnected communities of bloggers and readers at the convergence of journalism and conversation." Its researchers tracked blogs in 81 languages and surveyed 1,000 bloggers from 66 countries across six continents.

What began as a grass-roots means of expression has matured into "a global phenomenon that has hit the mainstream," as the 2008 analysis puts it. Ninety-five of the 100 largest U.S. news outlets have at least one journalist who blogs.
Overall, self-expression and sharing expertise are the top reasons for blogging, according to the report. A majority of bloggers surveyed said they post for fun, not money -- though 20 percent do earn money from ads.

Who blogs: Two-thirds of bloggers worldwide are male, Technorati says. Seventy 70 percent are college graduates. More than 26 million Americans have a blog.

Who reads: 77 percent of active Internet users read blogs, says a March 2008 study by Universal McCann, a major ad agency's media research division

Blogger says: "Because blogs are interactive, a scientist can respond to questions from the public without having to deal with an intermediary (a reporter) who might not understand or care about the research and its integrity." - GrrlScientist, a New York City biologist blogging since 2004