Technorati's State of the Blogoshphere 2011

This is the first real blog post assignment I've had in my Blogging for Journalists course. My assignment was to read the content of the 2011 edition of Technorati's yearly look at the blogging community, "State of the Blogosphere." I know it's a little different from the content I usually post, but I still hope you find it interesting.

State of the Blogosphere

Though I've only recently begun blogging, I found the information compiled by Technorati to be an enlightening look at the state of the online community I am entering. The State of The Blogosphere report included information from both casual and professional bloggers, as well as feedback and responses from both advertisers and blog readers. 

Though I don't necessarily aspire to ever make money with my current blog, I was intrigued by the ways those who do answered questions about how they used social media (usually to attract attention to their blog and/or business) and what sources they use to generate content for their blogs (usually online sources and sometimes even from other blogs).

Being that I don't fall into the category of "professional blogger," the material I looked at the most was concerning the casual, "just for fun" bloggers. The thing that interested me the most were the "styles" of different types of bloggers -- I think this is where there was some of the biggest variance between amateur and professional bloggers. Professional bloggers usually blog in an expert, sincere, or journalistic style. You know, stiff and politically correct. Amateur bloggers, however, were a lot more likely to report their blogging style as humorous, snarky, or confrontational. I don't know about you, but these are the types of blogs I actually prefer. If I wanted, "just the facts, man," I would read a newspaper. When I'm looking at blogs, I want personality, I want something a little off color. You know, kinda like my blog! ...I think that's a good place to leave off...