Benefits of Blog to Society

Blogging is no longer something new to us, it has revolutionized the way we carry out our daily activities. Blogging is now viewed as a mainstream media, however it has not replaced traditional media means. As at 2012, NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company, tracked over 181 million blogs around the world, up from 36 million only five years earlier in 2006 (Nielsen 2012). 329 million people view 25 billion pages a month (Jeffbullas 2012). Bloggers can be categorized into five different groups, which are part-time and full-time professionals (18%) that blog either to supplement their income or as their full-time job, hobbyists (60%) who blog for fun and personal musings, corporate (8%) that blog for organizations and entrepreneurs (13%) who blog for their own company (Technorati 2011).

Currently there are 17.5 Million Internet Users in Malaysia (2012) and in 2016, there will be 21 Million users (Malaysia Today 2013). The blogging scene in Malaysia is mainly popular for personal musings, technology and political scenes. 28% of the Malaysian Top 50 Bloggers write about personal stuff. 16% write about politics. 16% write about technology (Loone 2007). According to Gaman, some of the top Malaysian blogs include Kenny Sia's personal blog, Jeff Ooi's political blog, Lim Kit Siang's political blog and SapiensBryan.com blog on technology (Loone 2007). Blogging serves as an alternative option for people to rely on besides the traditional media especially on matters relating to politics and social issues and other matters that generally do not go well with the public. In such circumstances, blogs are used to discuss these matters on a more personal note. Blogs also serve as a medium to spread information effectively and efficiently especially for large gatherings and movements for change. On a lighter note, blogs also serve as entertainment needs and as a medium to advertise.


References

Bullas, J 2012, Blogging Statistics, Facts and Figures in 2012 – Infographic, viewed 3 October 2013, .

Loone, S 2007, ’50 most influential blogs in Malaysia’, Sloone.wordpress, weblog post, 6 February, viewed 3 October 2013,

Malaysia Today 2013, Malaysia Social Media Statistics, Malaysia Today, viewed 3 October 2013, .

Nielesen 2012, Buzz in the Blogsphere, Millions More Bloggers and Blog Readers, Nielsen, viewed 3 October 2013, .

Technorati 2011, Technorati's State of the Blogosphere, Technorati, viewed 3 October 2013, .