Blogging is For Old People

The latest Pew report on "Social Media and Young Adults" contains a number of findings that should come as little surprise to those who actually teach about digital media to those in that demographic, namely that blogging is on the decline among this population that has become more wary about adult snooping and that Twitter may be a marketer's dream but it has little appeal for teens who would rather be wired in other ways.

Two Pew Internet Project surveys of teens and adults reveal a decline in blogging among teens and young adults and a modest rise among adults 30 and older. Even as blogging declines among those under 30, wireless connectivity continues to rise in this age group, as does social network use. Teens ages 12-17 do not use Twitter in large numbers, though high school-aged girls show the greatest enthusiasm for the application.

As the report indicates, "14% of online teens now say they blog, down from 28% of teen internet users in 2006." This decline in participation is also "reflected in the lower incidence of teen commenting on blogs within social networking websites; 52% of teen social network users report commenting on friends’ blogs, down from the 76% who did so in 2006." However, the report notes that "the prevalence of blogging within the overall adult internet population has remained steady in recent years" with "one in ten online adults maintain a personal online journal or blog."