The best studies we can find say we are a nation of over 20 million bloggers, with 1.7 million profiting from the work, and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income. That's almost 2 million Americans getting paid by the word, the post, or the click -- whether on their site or someone else's. And that's nearly half a million of whom it can be said, as Bob Dylan did of Hurricane Carter: "It's my work he'd say, I do it for pay."
I work at UPS
Demographically, bloggers are extremely well educated: three out of every four are college graduates. Most are white males reporting above-average incomes. One out of three young people reports blogging, but bloggers who do it for a living successfully are 2% of bloggers overall. It takes about 100,000 unique visitors a month to generate an income of $75,000 a year. Bloggers can get $75 to $200 for a good post, and some even serve as "spokesbloggers" -- paid by advertisers to blog about products. As a job with zero commuting, blogging could be one of the most environmentally friendly jobs around -- but it can also be quite profitable. For sites at the top, the returns can be substantial. At some point the value of the Huffington Post will no doubt pass the value of the Washington Post.
High School Dropout, A.A. Degree From L.A. City College/American River College,
For now, bloggers say they are overwhelmingly happy in their work, reporting high job satisfaction. But what happens if they, too, lose work; are they covered by unemployment insurance if tastes change and their sites go under? Are they considered journalists under shield laws? Are they subject to libel suits? Are there any limits to the opinions they churn out, or any standards to rein them in? Is there someone to complain to about false blogs or hidden conflicts? At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, Panasonic outfitted bloggers with free Panasonic equipment; did that affect their opinions about the companies they wrote about? There are more questions than answers about America's Newest Profession.
I remember when I was about 14 and my Dad and I went to little five points, and driving in on Moreland there was a sign that said, "Welcome to Little FIve Points"; he sighed, "its all down-hill from here...."
He was a subcultural purist if you will.
If bloggers start taking unemployment insurance: "its all down-hill from here."
And with millions of human-hours now going into writing and recording opinion, we have to wonder whether being the blogging capital of the world will help America compete in the global economy. Maybe all this self-criticism will propel us forward by putting us on the right track and helping us choose the right products. Maybe it will create a resurgence in the art of writing and writing courses. Or serve as a safety net for out of work professionals in the crisis. But for how long can nearly 500,000 people who are gradually replacing whole swaths of journalists survive with no worker protections, no enforced ethics codes, limited standards, and, for most , no formal training? Even the "Wild West" eventually became just the "West."
melodrama anyone?
Ummmm... I get about a million page views a month all in all--which I think translates into about 100,000 unique visitors--and I make $3,000 a year off the weblog. It's a play in the intellectual influence game, a sounding board, a clippings file, and a loss leader.
The fact that Mark Penn is out without a keeper amazes me.....
....For the first time I understand the intonation with which senior economic advisers to Hillary Rodham Clinton in late 1991 said the words "Mark Penn."
Plus those numbers are all skewed... which was acknowledged (just not in flashing lights) in Penn's article
But a subgroup of these bloggers are the true professionals who work at corporations, serve as highly paid blogging consultants or write for sites with substantial traffic.
For what it is worth I guess I'd have to say blogger most deserving of money that probably doesn't get a whole lot is Jason Pye.
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