Over the last week we (here, here and here) have delivered the local printed media to a probably undeserved(?) and premature grave; unfortunately (for us self-important bloggers anyroads) it’s not the blogs which are going to be filling the info-gap in the years ahead if, as per usual, Europe falls in line behind the US example:
Blogs were once the outlet of choice for people who wanted to express themselves online. But with the rise of sites like Facebook and Twitter, they are losing their allure for many people — particularly the younger generation.
The Internet and American Life Project at the Pew Research Center found that from 2006 to 2009, blogging among children ages 12 to 17 fell by half; now 14 percent of children those ages who use the Internet have blogs. Among 18-to-33-year-olds, the project said in a report last year, blogging dropped two percentage points in 2010 from two years earlier.
I don’t know about you, but the fact that less teenagers are sharing their worldview with us online is not necessarily a blow, it’s the drop in interest in that next age-group which is perhaps the more pertinent.
Is blogging becoming a middle-aged pursuit then? Apparently so:
While the younger generation is losing interest in blogging, people approaching middle age and older are sticking with it. Among 34-to-45-year-olds who use the Internet, the percentage who blog increased six points, to 16 percent, in 2010 from two years earlier, the Pew survey found. Blogging by 46-to-55-year-olds increased five percentage points, to 11 percent, while blogging among 65-to-73-year-olds rose two percentage points, to 8 percent.
I’m going to take a punt here and guess that the majority of Slugger writers and commenters fall into that 34 plus demographic. Which is great. If trends continue that means, a bit like the politicians in the real world, we can look forward to continuing our enthralling “internal debate” and thus ignoring and dismissing the angst-ridden rants of those obviously less mature and politically aware than ourselves.
A UK Unionist and also confirmed devo-sceptic.
I believe the creation of devolved “governments” in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, along with the corresponding unsolved “English Question”, has weakened that Union.
The present-day Conservative Party would be the national party which would come closest to representing my political beliefs. I have previously belonged to the “Friends of the Conservatives” and the UUP but am no longer connected with either party.
Outside of my Unionism, I consider myself as an economic libertarian, social liberal and secularist- e’g. am pro-choice, anti-schools segregated on the grounds of (parents’) religious beliefs.
Very suspicious of NI’s Human Rights’ Oligarchy (in particular the NIHRC) and hope to be writing on this topic, as well as wider UK and European political issues.
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