From today's New York Times:
Richard Jalichandra, chief executive of Technorati, said that at any given time there are 7 million to 10 million active blogs on the Internet, but “it’s probably between 50,000 and 100,000 blogs that are generating most of the page views.” He added, “There’s a joke within the blogging community that most blogs have an audience of one.”
The article interviews a few people who started blogs, hoping to get noticed, attract advertisers, land a book deal, star in a movie--but then gave it up due to their dreams not coming true, or because they have moved on to Facebook or Twitter or other pursuits.
But 7-10 million active blogs--that's still a lot of bloggers, mostly with a very limited audience. I can only speak for myself, but I think the number of readers has little to do with it, although the more the merrier. For me, my little blog is a way to practice a certain kind of writing...to clarify and organize my thoughts...to vent about the stupidity around me...to reminisce and to look ahead.
One of these days I'll build up the courage to actually announce my blog to the world. Until then, it's just you and me.
