Blogging By The Rest Of Us
Blogging by the Rest of Us
Diane J. Schiano1, Bonnie A. Nardi2, Michelle Gumbrecht1 and Luke Swartz1
1Stanford University 2University of California at Irvine
Stanford CA 94305 USA Irvine, CA 92697 USA
<schiano@acm.org, nardi@ics.uci.edu, mgumbrec@psych.stanford.edu, lswartz@stanford.edu>
ABSTRACT
multimedia content. Most are interlinked in that they
Weblogs (or blogs) are frequently updated webpages with
provide links to other sites on the Internet. Many are
posts typically in reverse-chronological order. Blogging is
interactive, in that they invite and post commentary on their
the latest form of online communication to gain widespread
contents. Blogs are the latest form of online communication
popularity and it is rapidly becoming mainstream. Media
to gain widespread popularity, and their use is rapidly
attention tends to focus on "heavy-hitting" blogs devoted to
becoming mainstream. Current estimates place the number
politics, punditry and technology, but it has recently
of sites calling themselves "blogs" at over 1.3 million, of
become apparent that vast majority of blogs are written by
which about 870,000 are actively maintained [6].
ordinary people for much smaller audiences, and on largely
Exponential growth is expected in the next few years as
personal themes. Surprisingly little is known about this
blogging becomes more familiar and the tools continue to
"blogging by the rest of us", especially from the blogger's
improve.
point of view. This paper presents the preliminary results of
an ethnographic study of blogging as a form of personal
Blogs in their current format started around 1997, with
expression and communication. We characterize a number
Dave Winer's Scripting News, a web record of Winer’s
of blogging practices, and then consider blogging as
reflections and commentaries on a wide range of topics; it is
personal journaling. We find blogging to be a surprisingly
currently the longest-running blog on the Internet [2]. In
versatile medium, with uses similar to an online diary,
recent years, tools such as Blogger have made blogging
personal chronicle or newsletter, and much more. The next
much easier and more widely accessible, effectively (as
few years should provide a fascinating opportunity for
they advertise) "pushbutton publishing for the people" [1].
research and design as blogging tools improve and blog
Blogs vary greatly in nature and content. Most are
usage evolves and flourishes.
unabashedly partisan, infused with personal perspective and
attitude. Major blog sites devoted to politics and punditry
Author Keywords
(e.g., the Dean campaign's "Blog for America"), and to
Blogs, weblogs, CMC, webpage, online communication,
technical developments (e.g., "Slashdot") receive thousands
online journaling, WWW.
of hits a day. Media attention has focused on these "heavy-
hitters", but it's recently become apparent that the vast
ACM Classification Keywords
majority of blogs are written by ordinary people with much
H5m..Information interfaces and presentation (HCI):
smaller audiences in mind [7].
Miscellaneous. H.5.4 Hypertext/Hypermedia- User Issues.
Some attempts have been made to categorize and
H.5.3:Group and Organization Interfaces: Web-based
characterize blogs recently. For example, Krishnamurthy
interaction.
[4] proposed a classification of blogs into four basic types,
along two dimensions: personal vs. topical, and individual
INTRODUCTION
vs. community. Herring et al [3] estimate that the vast
A weblog or blog is a frequently updated webpage,
majority of blogs (over 70%) are written by individuals on
typically consisting of fairly brief posts presented and
largely personal themes. Surprisingly little is known about
archived in reverse-chronological order. Blog posts are
this "blogging by the rest of us", especially from the
primarily textual, but many include photos and other
blogger's point of view. This paper presents preliminary
results from an ethnographic exploration of blogging
conducted initially as part of an HCI class at Stanford
University in April-June of 2003. The focus of this research
is on understanding blogging as a new form of personal
expression and communication, with a specific interest in
uncovering a range of motivations and purposes that
individuals may have for creating and maintaining blogs. In
this paper we present our initial findings on the use of
blogging as a form of personal journaling. As an example, a
1
screen-shot of such a blog site found recently on Blogger's
Several were also involved in other kinds of blogs--
list of "fresh blogs" is shown in Figure 1 below.
including group blogs--for other personal or professional
purposes. Our participants found out about blogging either
through friends or colleagues, or by surfing the Internet,
and they learned of other blogs through blogs they were
already reading (many blogs include a fairly stable
"blogrolling" section containing links to other blogs of
interest), through friends or colleagues, sometimes through
the inclusion of the blog URL in an instant message profile
or homepage. Their blogs varied greatly in posting
frequency, from as little as once a month to several times a
day. (A quantitative analysis of number of public posts
during the 3-month sample period ranged from 3 to 253;
mean = 80). Some posts were extremely brief, others rather
long-winded (words/post ranged from 80-494; mean =
209.2). While most participants posted fairly consistently
during the time we've been reading their blogs, others
stopped for long or short periods; one participant ended his
Figure 1. Screen-shot of example blog site.
then-current blog and started another.
METHODS AND SAMPLE
The content of our participants' blogs showed great
Ethnographic interviews were conducted between April and
diversity, even in so small a sample. We found blogs
June 2003. Interviews were conducted in conversational
devoted primarily to documenting daily life, travels, family
style but covered a fixed set of questions about participants’
events, or sharing the progress of an ill loved one; to
blogs, blogging habits, thoughts on blogging, and use of
disseminating information on topics in health and science;
other communication media. Most participants were
to political commentary and "rants" on miscarriages of
interviewed in person, and most were interviewed at least
justice; to commentary on issues in the history of science
twice, often with follow-ups over the phone or in email.
and technology, to the discussion and publication of poetry,
Blog posts were analyzed both qualitatively and and much more. Many of these blogs showed an intriguing
quantitatively and continue to be read during the writing of
combination of serious commentary with personal
this paper. To better familiarize ourselves with blogging,
revelations. Bloggers seemed very aware of their target--
we created a class blog within which to discuss the
and potential--audience. For example, some kept their
research.
writing suitable for occasional perusal by parents or family
members of different persuasions:
Twenty-three people (16 men and 7 women, ranging from
19-60 years of age) were interviewed. All lived in
"My mom mentioned something that was in [my
California or New York, although countries of origin
blog]…my grandma reads it, too; she just got the
varied. Ten participants were current or former Stanford
Internet….It means that I kind of have to
students. All were well-educated, middle-class people either
censor—less cursing and stuff."
in school or employed in knowledge work or artistic
Blogging thus seems to provide scope for an enormous
pursuits. We developed the sample by searching (on
variety of expression within a rather simple format.
Google's Stanford portal) primarily for blogs hosted in the
Stanford vicinity, so that we could interview participants in
A recent content analysis of a large sample of weblogs
person. Our sample seems fairly representative; recent
suggests that media characterizations exaggerate the extent
findings suggest that at this time, bloggers are primarily
to which most blogs are interlinked, interactive, and
current or recent students, living in the US (or Western
oriented towards external events, and under-estimate the
Europe) and blogging in English [1]. Our participants used
importance of blogs as individualistic, intimate forms of
a wide variety of blogging tools, including Blogger, Blurty,
self-expression and communication [3]. The blogs in our
Xanga, MoveableType, RadioUserLand, and customized
study lend some support to this view. While many did
scripts. Several participants began with Blogger (recently
discuss external issues and events, they often did so from a
acquired by Google), but as they gained experience, they
distinctly personal perspective or included personal content.
migrated to other, more sophisticated tools or created their
In addition, most of the blogs we studied did not show high
own. In the description of results to follow, all names are
interactivity in the form of frequent posted commentaries.
fictitious and all statements are quoted with permission.
Most blogs had a fairly small set of regular readers, a few
of whom might send in comments occasionally, perhaps on
Blogging Practices
a topic of interest, or just to "keep in touch". Feedback also
Many of the people we interviewed were the sole authors of
occurred elsewhere: in readers' blogs, "in real life", or via
their blogs, which functioned primarily as online journals.
email or other communication media. Finally, although
most of these blogs had links to other Internet sites
2
(including "blogrolling" lists), the content of blog posts in
explanation may stem from the realization that while much
our sample was in general not highly interlinked. Number
of this personal information may have meaning for the
of external links per post (i.e., those with absolute
author and perhaps a few friends and relations, others
addressing--starting with <http://>"http://" and not referring
would find it "uninteresting". As Michael, a computer
to a file on the same site) ranged from 0 to 5, with a mean
scientist with a photographic blog documenting his young
of 1.
son's life, said, "a lot what’s [in blogs] is pretty boring
drivel...But [in my blog] it’s my drivel!". He added:
The following section presents our initial findings more
specifically on blogging as a form of online personal
This isn’t private, in part because it’s easier...But
journaling.
I guess I believe in the large unwashed denizens
of the web. You know, there are these incredibly
Blogs as Personal Journals
personal pages on the web, but who the hell
Many blogs seem to function in the age-old tradition of
cares?. I’m doing it for myself and my
friends…So I’m not really concerned.
diaries and personal record-keeping. While the blogger is
aware that his or her journal is on the Internet, the primary
This sense of openness was surprisingly common, even in
audience seems to be oneself, and perhaps a very few
very sophisticated users revealing very personal
occasional readers. Eddie, a Stanford undergraduate, said he
information. Katie, a graduate student in electrical
used his blog primarily for personal record-keeping:
engineering, said she didn't mind publicly "letting go" or
"putting out" her personal posts. It even gave her a sense of
[I use it] just to have like a record of like all the
stuff that I kinda did? [I]t’s just to kind of get a
"connection", of not being "isolated". She said:
snapshot of where you are in life and maybe like
I am what I am, and I’m comfortable with who I
twenty years from now…you might browse
am...Blogging is about yourself, unlike avatars or
through one day and be like, "Hey I actually
other digital identities.
remember stuff like that."
Michael, Katie and several others occasionally used
In a related vein, Fred, another undergraduate, says that he
"trackback" software to see who tends to read their blogs,
views this blog record as “verification” of his life:
and both had received infrequent messages from people
A lot of times, it’s just for personal reference…to
they didn't know about something in one of their posts. In
not forget it [events in my life]. […]Because if I
general, their experiences were good; no one reported real
don’t remember it…and there’s nothing
problems or concerns. Katie acknowledged that as blogging
physical…no remnant of time passing…then, like,
becomes more widespread, privacy-related difficulties
how do I prove to myself that I even existed? …or
might arise. But she seemed to see Internet presence as
did anything?
inevitable, and expressed confidence that “society” would
This rationale is so familiar among bloggers that it is
eventually evolve “rules” to ensure appropriate behavior.
humorously referred to as "blogito ergo sum" ("I blog,
Many of the blogs in our sample provide accurate identity
therefore I am"). As is also common in diaries, blogging
and even contact information, often through links to the
was often used as an “outlet” to "vent" deeply held thoughts
author's home page. A similar tendency to reveal this sort of
and feelings. Another student, Lara, described her
information in blogs was noted in Herring et al's recent
emotional, even confessional posts as “me working out my
research [3].
own issues". Others expressed a need to "rant", to "get it out
Beyond diary-keeping, sharing the ongoing story of one's
there", and to "let off steam" on issues they felt passionately
life (and, often, that of one's spouse and children) with
about.
others is a primary use of many blogs in our sample. These
Several participants said that they used online diaries
blogs resemble a continuing chronicle or newsletter more
because of the advantages of using a computer rather than
than a diary, and seemed especially common for newlyweds
paper (typing is easier, faster and more familiar than writing
or parents with remote relatives. Harriet, a Stanford
by hand these days, and has the benefits of superior
graduate student, started her blog to "document my life"
document editing and management tools). Moreover, on the
(and that of her husband) for her family and close friends in
Internet, their posts were stored and accessible to them
Iceland when they moved to the United States. They share
essentially anytime, anywhere. Of course, anyone who
posting duties, which typically involve many photographs,
posts on a public blog knows it differs from a private diary;
and she's currently putting up pictures of herself at various
the potential audience is as vast as the Internet. Yet many
stages of her pregnancy. Harriet blogs mostly in Icelandic,
bloggers seemed surprisingly unconcerned about privacy.
although she expects her local friends to appreciate the
Only one participant had a private, password-protected blog
photographs, and she sometimes provides titles for them in
(containing information about and photos of his young
English.. Interestingly, she found herself posting in English
daughters, and targeted exclusively for family and other
when she was on vacation back home. Tammy, a
intimates). Even in public blogs, most bloggers have the
biostatistician, said used her blog “kind of as a
option of designating specific posts as "private". Still, this
journal…just to keep people updated. Like, there’s a lot of
appeared to have been done very rarely in our sample. One
people from college or whatever that I don’t keep in touch
3
with very well.” Similarly, Katie described her blogs as a
Discussion of these uses is beyond the scope of this paper,
means of relating her life to others by telling her continuing
but will be forthcoming in a paper currently in progress [5].
"...story in close to 'real-time'”. Several people described
blogging as a vastly superior alternative to sending out
DESIGN ISSUES
mass emails.
While design issues cannot be discussed in detail here, we
Several participants said they started blogging in earnest
note the potential for improvement in several areas:
when they purchased digital cameras and began to post
• better integration with other online communication and
pictures on the Web. Using blogs essentially as sharable
document management tools
photo albums or scrapbooks seemed especially common
• improved ease of use, including better website
for those far from home and/or with young children. Harriet
integration and management
noted that in Iceland, “baby book” blogs were extremely
• improved audience specificity and privacy tools
common. Michael described his “photographic blog” for his
• facilitating the inclusion or reference to photographs
son, Kevin, as
(and perhaps other media)
...a way to dump a whole bunch of stuff…mostly
• facilitating search and browsing within and across
time organized…on what [Kevin]’s been doing.
blogs (and blog tools)
Not updated daily or hourly, like a lot of blogs
Some of the more sophisticated blogging systems do
are. But [it] functions in the same way...lets
address some of these issues in paid "premier" editions of
friends and family know what we’ve been doing.
their tools, but often at the expense of ease of use.
Blogs' reverse chronological format also lends itself easily
to use as travelogues, (including advance itineraries), as
CONCLUSION
well as status updates or progress reports. For example,
Blogging is a burgeoning form of online communication
Don, a consultant, began blogging to document his wife's
coming into its own at this time. This paper presents the
health condition when she became gravely ill and nearly
preliminary results of an ethnographic study of blogging as
died. He found blogging an important way to communicate
a form of personal expression and communication. We
with others who were concerned about his wife--and him--
characterize a number of blogging practices, and then
during this difficult period:
consider blogging as a form personal journaling Our
findings converge well with a recent study emphasizing the
[Blogging is helpful] when people’s lives are
importance of blogs as individualistic, intimate forms of
compromised in some way…when [my wife] was
self-expression and communication. We find blogging to be
sick, [I] was going through [the] hospital with
a surprisingly versatile medium, with uses similar to those
the lens of how can I share this with others?
of an online diary, personal chronicle or newsletter, and
Why use a blog for this instead of email or a personal web
much more. The next few years should provide a
page? Arthur, a Stanford professor, noted that a blog is
fascinating opportunity for research and design as blogging
physically easier than email and affords a greater scope of
tools improve and blog usage evolves and flourishes.
communication. Potential problems like remembering
changing addresses or whether a recipient can accept large
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