Three-quarters of U.S. youngsters have visited a blog

While a recent eMarketer study found that most British businesses don’t currently use blogs on a regular basis, new research by Synovate for MediaPost’s Marketing Daily is far more optimistic about the future of blogging in the U.S.

by Helen Leggatt

synovate%20logo.jpg Despite just 5.8 percent of Fortune 500 companies having a blog, not much more than the U.K. with 5 percent, the survey was upbeat about the future of blogging. So much so that it was suggested blogs should be considered a valuable marketing tool for the future.

Businesses may not yet have latched on to the idea but Internet users in the U.S. are reading and creating blogs in increasing numbers. Eighty percent of the 1,000 Americans surveyed knew what a blog was. "Eight percent of Americans currently have their own blog," said Tom Mularz, senior vice president at Synovate. "This is surprising given that a few years ago hardly anyone knew what a blog was."

Age plays a part in familiarity with blogs. The Synovate/Marketing Daily survey found that nearly 90 percent of those in the 25-34 age range knew what a blog was, compared to nearly 65 percent of those age 65-plus.

Over three-quarters of 18-24 year olds surveyed claimed to have visited a blog at some point, compared to just 45 percent of older Americans. Nearly 40 percent of blog readers visit them less than once a month, 28 percent visit them on a monthly basis, 15 percent daily and 5 percent read them several times a day.