James Torio has written Blogs: A Global Conversation. His “Master’s Thesis on the Social Phenomenon of Blogs,” which is available as a free download, is also a fascinating study of the business of blogging. Torio conducted a survey of bloggers and received 174 responses. The paper covers the impact of blogging on business and communication, how they facilitate the spread of information, how blogs are making money, and the future of the Blogosphere.
Some of Torio’s findings:
- Most blogs (64%) receive less than 1000 visits per day.
- 74% of bloggers update their blogs 3 times or less per day.
- 85% of bloggers allow comments on their blog.
- 67% of blogs offer an RSS feed.
- 64% of blogs have been mentioned in a newspaper, 57% have been mentioned in magazines.
- 51% of blogs receive revenue from advertising, 26% from affiliate programs, 31% from donations.
- 45% of blogs make no money at all, 40% make less than $5,000 per year, 10% make $20,000 or more.
The 145 page thesis is available as a PDF file. You can grab it from Torio’s blog, everyhuman.
