Why Blog? Motivations for Blogging

Citation

Peh, L. (2011), "Why Blog? Motivations for Blogging", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 45 No. 2, pp. 247-248. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330331111129804

Blogging has become one of the most popular uses of the internet. A blog is a web log, or an online public diary or journal that is written for others to read. There are many reasons as to why people blog. Blogs can be created for personal, educational or corporate reasons. Why Blog? Motivations for Blogging sets out a number of reasons for blogging, which include the intent to connect with others online, express opinions and/or share experiences.

The author, Sarah Pedersen, a well‐respected practitioner in the field, enriches the discussion by introducing topics like “motivations of women bloggers” and the “business potential or possibilities of blogging”. She identifies the reasons why blogs are more attractive for, and popular with, women. She also highlights financial motivation as one of the latest states of the blogosphere. However, discussion in the book covers mainly the personal rather than corporate blogs. Pedersen focuses mainly on the motivation for the average men and women to blog.

The author is generally inclined towards the British blogosphere. However, she strikes a balance by making comparisons with the American bloggers. Various factors like the demographic differences, perceptions of blogging, satisfaction ratings from blogging, and ‘blogroll’ differences, were used to compare the American and British blogs. Although the author adopted a random sampling, a larger sampling size would have been more useful to interpret trends.

The book's contents are clearly set out in nine chapters with subtopics and a concise concluding chapter. Readers can tell at one glance what the book entails and the author is clear on the coverage and message of each chapter. The information presented in the book is easily digestible and comprehensible.

The bibliographic segment is well organized and reflects intensive research with an exhaustive literature review from the 1970s to the present. The author supports her findings and discussions with many citations and references. There are substantive data sets from the survey also included in the book. The index at the end of the book provides a useful aid to navigate the contents.

Overall, the book attempts to be comprehensive, as it covers many aspects of why people blog. It provides a good read and can act as an introductory guide for people with little or no knowledge on the blogosphere. The broad trail of research from the traditional and early journals or diaries to today's blogosphere provides a good historical prelude. However, readers who are looking for corporate blogging, global trends and motivations for blogging, and a more Asian‐centric perspective would find the publication less informative.