Who Are the Bloggers?

From the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a survey of bloggers. Some of the key findings, quoted verbatim from the Summary of Findings:

• Blogging is bringing new voices to the online world.
• While many well-publicized blogs focus on politics, the most popular topic among bloggers is their life and experiences.
• The blogging population is young, evenly split between women and men, and racially diverse.
• Relatively small groups of bloggers view blogging as a public endeavor.
• The main reasons for keeping a blog are creative expression and sharing personal experiences.
• Only one-third of bloggers see blogging as a form of journalism. Yet many check facts and cite original sources.
• Bloggers are avid consumers and creators of online content. They are also heavy users of the internet in general.
• Bloggers are major consumers of political news and about half prefer sources without a particular political viewpoint.
• Bloggers often use blog features that enhance community and usability. [Meaning comments, blog rolls, RSS feeds and friends lists]

This, of course, is just a superficial overview, so at least scan the entire report for a variety of interesting findings.