TheCapitalClinic

I came across a fascinating set of numbers in an article in today's Online Advertising Age, Study Shows Blogging Now "Mainstream" Among Women, which, if "statistically correct", has profound implications for the development of social capital that has been an abiding interest at our Nightschool.

For those who can't open the link or don't have the time, here are a few take-aways from the article:

1."Blogosphere" may not be a pretty name for it, but it is a pretty attractive destination -- for women at least
2. more than one-third (35%) of all women in the U.S. aged 18 to 75 participate in the blogosphere at least once a week. And that number increases if less-frequent visits are factored in. Of those women who are online any amount of time, 53% read blogs, 37% post comments to blogs and 28% write or update blogs
3. "We can now see that blogging is mainstream"
4. The study was based on surveys of two sample groups which together included several thousand respondents: one composed of participants in the BlogHer community and the other of online women selected to represent the general population of U.S. women. If anything, blogs do seem to capture a consistent audience.

5. Of the general population of online women who write blogs, 58% post entries at least weekly -- and of those who read blogs, 80% do so at least weekly.
6. Of women who said they write blogs, answers from BlogHer respondents and the general population were "nearly identical," saying they: most often do so for fun (65%); to express themselves (60%); to connect with others (40%); as a personal diary (34%); and to give advice or educate (26%).
7. Women read blogs for fun (46%); to get information (41%); stay up to date on family and friends (36%); stay up to date on specific topics (34%); connect with others (28%); and entertainment (26%).
8. the last finding is significant for all media. "I think other media have to be conscious that this is also entertainment. It's replacing other forms of news gathering, which has newspapers and magazines scared, but it's also [replacing] all of entertainment, which should have TV and movie [companies] scared," Ms. Page said.
9. there has been a noticeable shift away from traditional media. Some 24% of the women overall watch less TV, as do 43% of BlogHer users; another 25% and 22% of the general consumers read fewer magazines and newspapers, respectively, as do 31% in each category of BlogHer users.
10. Demographically, BlogHer users are fairly similar to average online women, although they skew much higher in the 25- to 41-year-old Gen X range, with 68% of the BlogHer users in that age range vs. 42% of overall women.
11. "We are almost a beacon of what's to come," Ms. Des Jardins said

. What about the guys? I dunno. There doesn't yet seem to be a similar survey about male bloggers. What's goin' on here? Why do women always seem to be the pathfinders in the development of our social capital? Do we still live, when all is said and done, in a matriarcal world - from caveman to blogman - or, rather, I should say: from cavewoman to wonderwoman?