• Editor and Publisher, Tuesday, February 7, 2006 10:16 AM

A new survey from The Gallup Poll organization finds that blogs, while catching on with Web users, haven't quite yet become required reading for most of the Internet population. Among Americans who use the Web (which is now 73 percent of the population), reading blogs appeared last on a list of thirteen things to do online, on average. One in five of those polled said they consult blogs "frequently" or at least "occasionally," but the 20 percent number trails other Web activities like instant messaging (28 percent), auctions (23 percent), videocasts and downloading music (22 percent each). Not surprisingly, e-mail heads the list at 87 percent, followed by news and weather, 72 percent, and shopping and travel planning, both 52 percent. Nearly 60 percent said they "never" look at blogs, but there's an age gap: 28 percent of those 18-29 read blogs, while only 17 percent of those over 50 said the same thing. In total, 1,013 adults were surveyed nationally for the poll.

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