State of the Female Blogosphere

Blogging poobah Technorati has just released its State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, a kind of online State of the Nation that reveals the ways blogging is being used, the shifting formats and technological changes (particularly the rise of blog advertising and the blurring of blogs and so-called “mainstream media”), and who is blogging these days.

This year, for the first time, Technorati got bloggers to fill out a survey (previous States of the Blogosphere were based on the stats Technorati collected itself). The survey was in English, and 72% of respondents stated their blog was also in that language. 48% of blogger respondents were based in North America, 27% in Europe, 13% in Asia, 7% in South America, 3% in Australia, and less than 1% in Africa. 66% of bloggers worldwide were still male, and here’s a further snapshot of bloggers by gender:

We all know those dumb stereotypes of women blogging about kids, crafts and cats (ie, the “home blogger”) while men tackle hard-hitting politics, business or geek topics (ie, the “work blogger”). Of course that’s crap – think of Perez Hilton making a killing from the traditional “women’s territory” of celebrity gossip, or Wonkette being a key voice in American politics and policy. And of course, I Can Has Cheezburger ‘ought’ to be a “women’s blog”, but has a vast audience among both genders.

Still, Technorati found what they call “expected truths”. Women were more likely than men to maintain personal blogs than professional or corporate ones (83% compared to 76% of men). Women favoured personal musings (66% vs 47% of men) and family updates (36% vs 16% of men), and their blog style was more likely to be conversational (75% vs 59% of men). Women also stated that they blogged to keep friends and family updated (45% vs 25% of men) and to interact with like-minded people (69% vs 58% of men).

But it’s the financials that gave Technorati pause – and should probably give women bloggers pause too.

Old Women Are Funny, An Ongoing Series

The Dawn Chorus has occasionally dipped its toe in the waters of how the media treats older women – in short, if you’re not “hot“, you must be weird looking and ugly. So maybe this little corker from My Ticketmaster’s mail-out for a special offer on tickets to Menopause: The Musical can be brushed off as “humour”:

Granted, the musical pokes fun at the concept of menopause and plays with the (mis)conceptions surrounding “the things that happen to women”, as Dr Derek Llewellen Jones put it.

But is it too much to dream of a day when old women don’t have to be hilarious, or hot, or cronelike, and instead are celebrated for being the wise, amazing women they are?