Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Blog Demographics

Here are the questions relating to people’s blog(s) and their blogging history:

11. How long have you had your current blog?

Less than 4 months…. 20 (12.3%)
4 to 8 months…. 33 (20.2%)
9 months to 1 year…. 29 (17.8%)
13 months to 2 years…. 39 (23.9%)
25 months to 3 years…. 27 (16.6%)
37 months to 4 years…. 12 (7.4%)
49 months to 5 years…. 1 (0.6%)
61 months to 6 years…. 1 (0.6%)
More than 6 years…. 1 (0.6%)

Skipped this question: 2

Interesting that around half of the library blogs have only been around 1 year or less. I wonder how many blogs don’t make it past that milestone.

12. Was this your first blog?

Yes…. 103 (63.2%)
No…. 60 (36.8%)

13. When did you start blogging?
1997 or earlier…. 3 (1.8%)
1998…. 0 (0%)
1999…. 5 (3.1%)
2000…. 4 (2.5%)
2001…. 14 (8.6%)
2002…. 24 (14.7%)
2003…. 37 (22.7%)
2004…. 47 (28.8%)
2005…. 29 (17.8%)

Yikes! At this rate I’m going to be completely overwhelmed by library blogs by 2006! Again, I do wonder how many of these new bloggers will actually find the inspiration to keep their blogs going. Looks like blogging really caught on by 2002, but the past three years have seen crazy growth. At least the growth rate in 2005 seems like it won’t be more than in 2004 (since the year is already 3/4 of the way over).

What software/service do you use to blog?

Blogger…. 73 (44.5%)
Wordpress…. 34 (20.7%)
Moveable Type…. 19 (11.6%)
Other…. 11 (6.7%)
Typepad…. 10 (6.1%)
Too many to mention…. 5 (3%)
Self-Designed/Custom…. 4 (2.4%)
LiveJournal…. 3 (1.8%)
Square Space…. 2 (1.2%)
Blogsome…. 1 (0.6%)

Skipped this question: 1

Looks like Blogger, WordPress and MoveableType still have the majority of the market share (at least for library blogs).

What type of library blog(s) do you have (check at many as apply)?

Personal blog (1 author)…. 114 (69.3%)
Professional blog (1 author)…. 75 (45.7%)
Collaborative professional blog (more than 1 author)…. 34 (20.7%)
Official library blog for patrons…. 30 (18.3%)
Collaborative personal blog (more than 1 author)…. 25 (15.2%)
Part of a community…. 23 (14%)
Internal staff blog…. 21 (12.8%)
Official library blog for librarians…. 6 (3.7%)

Skipped this question: 1

While many people have more than one blog, or one blog that fits into various categories, the majority of people still think of their blog as a personal blog. Nice to see the growth of library blogs for patrons, though I know there are more than just 30 out there.

Please visit part 3 of the results at Survey of the Biblioblogosphere: Attitudes and Behaviors