A Comparison of the Blogging Practices of UK and US Bloggers

This paper describes the results of an investigation into the differences and similarities between the blogging techniques of UK and US bloggers undertaken in the winter and spring of 2006-7 and funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. Blogging started in the US, while British bloggers are relative latecomers to the blogosphere. How has this late arrival impacted on the ways in which Britons blog in comparison to US bloggers? A survey was administered to 60 UK and 60 US bloggers and data was also collected directly from their blogs and by means of online tools. A blog was also set up in order to discuss the findings of the research within the blogosphere. Since blogging started in the US, the majority of research into blogging so far has focused on the US and it is suggested that this focus has resulted in all bloggers being defined through the US experience. The findings of this project suggest that bloggers outside the US may have different approaches to blogging and find different satisfactions. It also suggests a new financial motivation for blogging, which had not previously been identified, and which may be an indication of the way in which the blogosphere is evolving.