Blogging by the Rest of Us

1
Blogging by the Rest of Us

• Diane J. Schiano et al.
• Stanford University
• CHI 2004
• Late Breaking Results Paper ?

2
Objective

• Find out why people write blogs
• For us Discover new blog applications something
  only blogs can do

3
Method and Sample

• Interview 23 people
• 16 men and 7 women
• 10 from Stanford
• Live in California or New York
• Most bloggers are current or recent students,
  living in the US

4
Observations

• Variety of Topics
• Daily life, travels, family events, health,
  science, political commentary, etc.
• Bloggers are aware of audience

5
Observations

• Blogs are mostly about personal matters
• A fairly small set of regular readers
• Compare to discussion forums

6
Blogs as Personal Journals

• Diaries and personal record-keeping
• Primary audience is oneself, and pershaps very
  few occasional readers
• Bloggers are unconcerned about privacy
• Uninteresting to strangers

7
Blogs as Chronicles

• Keep friends updated on bloggers current state

8
Blogs as Photo Albums

• Baby book blogs

9
Blogs as Progress Reports

• Track the progress of an ill wife

10
Other Uses

• News digest inform people on topics within
  authors area of expertise
• Newspaper op/ed page express opinions
• Forum ongoing projects

11

• Moreoever, as a pull rather than a push
  technology, blogging feels less intrusive. As
  Lara observed, no one is forced to pay
  attention