NZ Bloggers blog more than any other bloggers

Kiwis top of international survey for blogging
A new study has revealed one in 13 New Zealanders has a weblog, making us the keenest bloggers out of 15 countries surveyed for a world research project.

Researchers at AUT University asked 1430 people about their internet use as part of the World internet Project, a California-run initiative that tracks how people around the world use the internet.

The survey, the first comprehensive study of New Zealanders' attitudes to the internet, found one in 10 internet users had a blog - about 8 per cent of the population.

The director of the World internet Project, Dr Jeffrey Cole, said New Zealand had the highest rate of bloggers out of any of the 15. The other country that rated highly for blogging was Japan.

Dr Cole said that although the global audience for blogs was "tiny", it was hugely important because it included other journalists working in traditional media who might pick up on a story and publish it.

Dr Cole said most blogs disappeared after about three months, when the blogger realised their online musings would not bring them fame and fortune. "Anyone can put their random thoughts up on the internet for the world to read, but the truth is, most people's random thoughts aren't that interesting." However, occasionally a great thinker or writer emerged who might otherwise not have been published.

Blogger Russell Brown, who runs the weblog community PublicAddress.net, said the ability to hide your identity on the internet meant people could share information they might not share in person.

In New Zealand, people identifying as Asian were the most likely to report having a blog, with 31 per cent of Asians blogging, compared with 12 per cent of Pasifika people, 6 per cent of Pakeha and 2 per cent of Maori. Most bloggers were under the age of 30.

Nice to see the on-line blogging community is growing.