The humble web log, or blog, has enjoyed a truly meteoric rise in popularity. Few would dispute that the rate at which the practice has embedded itself into the mainstream of internet culture is staggering.
The latest reports indicate that an astonishing 50 million Americans, about a third of all US internet users, visited blogs during Q1 2005. Industry analysts estimate that this surge in blog traffic represents an increase of 45 per cent compared to the same period during 2004.
This huge growth in visitors is mirrored by an amazing rise in the number of blogs being created. Analysts estimate that one new blog is created every second, with the count in August 2005 standing at 14.2 million blogs worldwide.
Given that this figure represents a doubling of blog numbers in just five months, the extent and the scale of the blog phenomenon becomes clear.
And, unlike many internet-related activities, blogging is not confined to any one geographical area or region. Although blogs first took off in the US, there is very significant growth across the world with Japan, Korea, China, the UK, France and Brazil emerging as hotspots.
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