Blogging is so 2005, according to the latest study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. These days, the kids are all about Twitter. Instant Messaging Planet documents the waning interest in long-form blogging and explains why Facebook is partly to blame for the decline.
Has blogging run its course?
Once regarded as a cutting-edge form of communication, blogging has fallen out of favor with younger Internet users, according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Three years ago, 28 percent of teens and young adults identified themselves as bloggers. But in a study conducted last year and set for release Wednesday, just 14 percent of teens (defined as ages 12 to 17) and 15 percent of young adults (ages 18 to 29) say they’re blogging.
Why the sudden drop-off? According to Amanda Lenhart, one of the report’s authors and a senior researcher at the Pew Internet Project, many younger Internet users feel like blogging is no longer relevant as new forms of social media have taken hold.
“Blogging appears to have lost its luster for many young users,” Lenhart said in a statement. “The fad stage is over for teens and young adults and the move to Facebook—which lacks a specific tool for blogging within the network—may have contributed to the decline of blogging among young adults and teens.”
Among older adults, however, it’s a different story. Pew found that 11 percent of adults 30 or older identified themselves as bloggers, up from 7 percent in 2006.
