Funferal

Misleading stats from Orlowski

I plan a more detailed piece on Orlowski’s recent reports, but just wanted to respond to a misconception being propogated by others. Orlowski claimed, as quoted, that:

Pew Research described the number of Internet users who read ‘weblogs’ as ‘statistically insignificant.’ The number who write them is much lower.

This is not true. Pew Research reported that 4% of internet users claimed to use blogs as a source of news and opinion. (Their survey was about media usage in the context of the war in Iraq – I am unsure of the exact wording used in the question).
The ‘statistically insignificant’ point was not about the total number of readers of weblogs. It was about profiling readers. In order to avoid counterclaims that I am skewing my interpretation, here is the exact wording from their site:

There has been much early discussion about the role of blogs or Web diaries in shaping opinion about the war and allowing Internet users to gain new perspectives and sources of information about the war. Our first soundings on the subject show that blogs are gaining a following among a small number of Internet users, but they are not yet a source of news and commentary for the majority of Internet users. Some 4% of online Americans report going to blogs for information and opinions. The overall number of blog users is so small that it is not possible to draw statistically meaningful conclusions about who uses blogs. The early data suggest that the most active Internet users, especially those with broadband connections are the most likely to have found blogs they like. In addition, blogs seem to be catching on with younger Internet users ? those under age 30 ? at a greater pace than with older Internet users.

My own estimates are that there are about one million active weblogs, which is about 0.17% of internet users – a ratio of one weblog to every 24 readers. Some notes on this:

• Since many people read more than one weblog, this means that the average readership of a weblog will be more than 24 people.
• The two figures refer to different populations: the readership to the US internet universe (as Nielsen would describe it) – 116m adults according to Pew; and the authorship to the world internet using universe, or 580m people. Therefore, my ratio of 1:24 relies on readership rates for weblogs being replicated across the online world.
• As mentioned above, I’ll provide a more detailed response to Orlowski soon. Suffice to say that while I initially welcomed his recent reports as possibly constructive and incisive, I have become increasingly concerned with the standard, tone, and nature of his work.