More older adults blogging

The July/August issue of AARP (not my normal reading fare I'll point out, but this caught my attention) includes an article titled, "Born to Blog: Older Americans are writing, ranting, and reflecting online." According to the article:

Only 5 percent of bloggers are over 50, according to a recent study, but most Web experts believe that number will grow. Blogster.com, a site where users create their own Web pages, says 22 percent of its bloggers are now older than 50, a 20 percent increase since October 2005.

"I'm convinced you'll see more older people take up blogging," says Ronni Bennett, 65, a former 20/20 producer in New York City who launched timegoesby.net, a blog on aging. "When you quit working, your social group shrinks. Blogs enable people with similar interests to develop a new social group. They also keep your critical abilities sharp because you're reading, writing, and thinking."

This jives with a PEW/Internet report released last month: "Bloggers: A portrait of the internet's new storytellers." David Warlick posted a good summary of the major findings. The first one coincides with the focus of this AARP article:

54% of bloggers in the U.S. are under the age of 30.

This means that about half the bloggers in the U.S. are over 30! We have a lot of digital immigrants out there blogging, and likely loving it since they're keeping at it! No one is twisting their arms here! I think it is a great idea to encourage people of all ages to not only READ blogs, but also WRITE them. The long tail is real, and bloggers know this-- because the blogosphere allows for unprecedented, global connections with others who share common interests. What an exciting and empowering age we live in!

On this day..

• Painful signs of media convergence in my hometown - 2009
• Decking a house - Sharing with a VoiceThread and a JayCut video - 2008
• Maintaining perspective and changing the world - 2007
• Featured speaker at Oklahoma Encyclo-Media - 2007
• Distance learning can be disruptive - 2006
• Ewan has the best job - 2006
• Increase retention and creativity with recess - 2006
• Doug Belshaw on John Holt and authentic learning - 2006
• My journey of faith to Jesus - 2006
• If I had... - 2006

About Wesley Fryer

Educator, author, digital storyteller, husband, dad. I'm here for the learning revolution.