- Over 12 million American adults maintain a blog.
- Over 147 million American adults use the internet.
- Of those 147 million, 57 million read blogs.
- More than 120 000 blogs are created every day.
- Nine percent of internet users claim to have created a blog.
- 1.7 million Americans say that making money is one of the reasons that they blog.
- Of the companies surveyed, 89% say that blogging will be important for their business during the next five years.
- Over half of bloggers are also online shoppers.
- Nearly 25% of the Web’s 100 most popular websites are blogs.
- Every day, 1.4 million new blog posts are made.
- Blog readers spend an average of 23 hours online every week.
This new, empowered user is often identified as a threat to the mass media establishments. Criticisms of American mass media show that it is no longer considered a dominant media figure on the global scale. American media insists on its objectivity despite obvious biases in the stories. There is reduced editorial independence due to commercial influences. There have even been some incidences of mass media companies fabricating news stories. The blogging world is given the power to socially share information while reducing these problems. If a mainstream article shows a problematic bias, bloggers of the subject can write about it in their blogs, making the issue present; or simply choose not to share the article with their readers. Most bloggers are independent, and therefore do not embellish their writings to satisfy commercial influences. Blogs can also be used as a tool to address the fabrication of stories since users can voice their suspicions, and research many other blogs and online news resources to compare information. Major news networks will be less likely to fabricate stories knowing there is a critical network of bloggers listening. The decline in mass media is linked with the increase in the popularity of blogging. Newspapers are showing declines in revenue, readership, staff employment security, etc. Statistics from an article by Danny Schechter in the summer 2009 Nieman Reports reveal the increase in the popularity of blogging:
