Don’t be alarmed my faithful blog readers, but I think we may have just hit double-digit readership levels, as in there may be more than 10 of us actually concerned about what’s being typed on this post. Pretty amazing. I’ve now been an official blogger for about a month, and the experience has been enjoyable. Admittedly, my favorite part is still looking at my blog stats to see how many people viewed my page, and also discovering how they came to my blog in the first place. The search terms that bring people here are always the most interesting to me. My favorite so far has been “kick ass Jesus”. I wonder if this person was looking for a really cool Jesus or was looking for ways to beat Jesus up? Either way, and however you got here, welcome! I’m thankful for anyone taking the time to read my thoughts.
There are millions of bloggers in America- 2,947,239 on WordPress alone. What does the typical blogger look like, as distinguished from the rest of the population? According to a recent article by the Center for Media Research, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:
- 53.7% are male
- 44.7% are married
- 28.4% hold a professional or managerial position
- 10.4% are students.
“Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the “general population”). Ethnically:
- 69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)
- 12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)
- 3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)
- 20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+
In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3 years of education vs. 14.2). Analysis of Bloggers shows that they are using most forms of new media significantly more than the average market.”
| Regular/Occasional New Media Usage (Top 5) | ||
| % of Regular/Occasional Bloggers | % of Adults 18+ | |
| Cell Phone |
93.0% |
87.5% |
| Instant Messaging |
75.3% |
49.3% |
| Download/Access Video/TV Content |
72.2% |
45.0% |
| Video Gaming |
66.9% |
47.5% |
| Text Messaging |
65.5% |
45.2% |
| Source: BIGresearch, January 2008, N=15,727 | ||
Now we know who the bloggers are, but why do bloggers blog? Journaling, fame, money, frustration, creativity, outlet to express ideas or opinions, attention, and anonymous confession are a few ideas. If you blog, why do you do it? It can be a very personal experience, so why choose to share it with potentially millions of viewers whom you do not know? My reasons for wanting a blog started simply. I had a crappy week, which led to a lot of frustration. I tried journaling on paper, but my thoughts were coming so quickly I really couldn’t write fast enough. I decided to type them instead, and then my thoughts took on more of a story format than a journal. I appreciate good dialogue with other people. It brings people together, creates community, and allows you to consider new ideas and opinions. A blog was a chance to start dialogue, even if noone ever responded or left comments. At least I knew my audience was more than 1 (sometimes!), and so it allowed me to pose questions to myself and others.
I didn’t want this to be a personal blog that merely shared pictures and detailed stories about what’s new with the Petersohns or the exciting world of Indiana. I’m sure you’re all curious about what we ate for dinner last night, but that’s not the kind of newsworthy items I wanted to share. I also didn’t really want this to be a “Christian” blog, as in every topic and post would center around religious, faith, or moral issues. That would have felt forced. But as it happens my faith is a big part of my life, and therefore interacts with other portions of my life even if I don’t intend for it too. That interaction between life and faith does not feel forced at all, just like my love for NPR. I love NPR, and so I really want to tell other people about it, and the cool stories I hear. NPR somehow ends up in the blog because it is a part of my life that shapes me and interests me. I also didn’t want it to be a “Christian” blog because I wanted it to be cool, and Christianity is decidedly uncool in our society. As we know by now, I am not cool. I am decidedly nerdy.
Personal Blog vs. Christian Blog
Confession #1 for my faithful readers: I’m tired of trying to be cool, aren’t you? It’s a relief when you just get to be yourself and you’re not trying to fit in with what’s fashionable. I’ve avoided certain things in my life because they were not cool. I think I probably missed out on some great friendships in high school because I didn’t associate myself with certain people. Chritianity as a religion will probably never be cool, even if you wear a “Jesus is my Homeboy” T-shirt, and it probably would be frightening if it was cool, because does that mean the message would be changed? The ideas of Christ are worth looking into if you’ve never considered them because of hypocritical Christians, televangelists, or abusive “Godly” words. Love, social justice, the relief of oppression, compassion, truth, forgiveness- these are the things Jesus talked about and wanted to see done in this world by Christians. I haven’t always lived for those things- and I’m sorry if you’ve ever been affected by me not living that way or someone else who hasn’t. But publicly and privately those are the things I strain to live and die for.
Trying to live your life for certain things, whether yours is a kick-ass Jesus or something else altogether, doesn’t feel cool and it doesn’t feel nerdy, it feels beautiful.
It surprises me sometimes when my blog stats show that someone besides myself actually looked at this page, and then it makes me paranoid, and then I question why I started a blog in the first place.
