A. Blogs as current phenomenon & benefits to the community

The growth of blogosphere has increased frantically due to its trend and convenience. According to blogger Hopkins Lee (2009), the internet search engine – Technorati, did not provide hard numbers of the current blogosphere. However, according to blog analysis firm, Technorati, the size of blogosphere doubled every five months over the years (McGann, 2004). Conversely, referring to another internet search engine, the number of blogs recorded in the year 2008 is 133 million (Pingdom, 2010).

All blogs serve different purposes. There are plenty of blogs that deal with business, technology and politics. However, there are also blogs about fashion and music. All in all, the genres of blogs are very wide.

In a research conducted by Windows Live Spaces, here are some statistics that show the blogging phenomenon in Asia:

· Nearly 50% of those online in Asia have a blog

·   74% find blogs by friends and family to be most interesting

·   20% on Malaysians find blogs about politicians interesting

·   Only 8% find blogs about sports interesting

·   India expresses high interest in blogs about business

Political blogs bring benefits to the community.
Bloggers get to express how they feel and readers get to read about political issues in a different perspective.
It is rather an alternative media.

Reference

Lee, H . (2009). Technorati and the size of the blogosphere: it can’t be THAT hard to figure out, surely?!. Available: http://www.leehopkins.net/2009/12/26/technorati-and-the-size-of-the-blogosphere-it-cant-be-that-hard-to-figure-out-surely/. Last accessed 26th September 2010.

Pingdom. (2008). Internet 2008 in Numbers. Available: http://royal.pingdom.com/2009/01/22/internet-2008-in-numbers/. Last accessed 26th September 2010.

McGann, R. (2004). The Blogosphere By Numbers. Available: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/stats/1709780/the-blogosphere-by-numbers. Last accessed 26th September 2010.

Collete, M. (2006). Blogging Phenomenon Sweeps Asia. Available: http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-28-2006/0004480819&EDATE . Last accessed 26th September 2010.