Pew's report "Bloggers: A portrait of the Internet's new storytellers" has already been thoroughly discussed by the usual suspects, but I can't resist observing that the Hindu fable of the blind men and the elephant is once again in play. Much nonsense about the blogosphere has been written by people who apparently have encountered only the tusk or the trunk. The Pew report paints a more complete picture.
It's important to keep in mind that statistics are just statistics. While the Pew survey shows bloggers tend to be younger than the general Internet population, it would be a mistake to jump to the conclusion that older people can't or won't blog.
When we offered free blogspace to everyone in Bluffton, SC, last year, we wondered about that. Bluffton skews older than many markets and is a popular retirement and semiretirement destination with its many golf courses. We discovered that the offer was eagerly accepted by people no longer twentysomething. The typical blogger at BlufftonToday.com is a woman in her late 30s, but some of the site's best users are in their 60s. We're seeing the same pattern emerge at SavannahNow, which jumped into the deep end of the pool last month.
Newspapers that look at the blogging phenomenon as a political fad involving young wannabee journalists flinging agitprop are making a very big mistake.