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April 16, 2008, 07:59 AM ET
Reading Blogs Can Become Habitual, Like Smoking (but Safer)
Warning: This blog could become habit-forming.
A study of blog readers’ behavior found that for many people, checking favorite blogs is part of a routine that they feel compelled to repeat each day.
“I don’t know if I look forward to” reading blogs, said one participant in the study. “I don’t really look forward to cigarettes anymore, but it’s something that happens through the course of the day that I feel like I might need to do. It just becomes habit, I guess.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by many other participants in the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of California at Irvine. “When asked about motivations for reading blogs, participants said they visit blogs for information, inspiration, entertainment, and to a certain extent because it is just what they have always done,” says a report on the study. The report was presented at a conference sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery.
Some of the blog readers interviewed for the study also felt an obligation to comment on particularly good blog posts, “as a courtesy“—especially if the post was written by a friend. And the readers felt that they were part of a community, even if they rarely commented on a blog they read.
Though readers might feel addicted to their blogs, participants in the study did not report feeling overloaded. If they missed a few days, many said they just skipped over what they had missed and then picked up reading.
It’s important to note that the study was small—with only 15 subjects—and took place in one area (Irvine, Calif.). But those of us at Wired Campus hope the conclusions are right.
See you here again tomorrow. —Jeffrey R. Young
Categories: Research
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