Women Trust Bloggers

BlogHer, iVillage, and Compass Partners recently completed their annual social media study of U.S. female Internet users. They found that 53% of the U.S. female Internet population surveyed who do any social media activity participate either daily, 2 to 3 times per week, or weekly. Social media activity is defined as participating in social networks, blogging, reading blogs, posting to blogs, message boards and forums, and status updating.

75% of these women are actively participating in social networks, 55% in blogs, 40% in message boards and forums, and 16% with Twitter.

When you look just at the blogging activity, 54% are reading blogs, 29% are posting to blogs, and 19% are publishing blogs.

The study found that many women are using multiple social media tools. And, the women who are blog authors are more likely than other active social media females to read other blogs, post comments to blogs, participate in forums, and do status updates.

These women continue to shift their time away from traditional media like newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV.

Finally, these women report they are significantly more likely to make a purchase decision based on customer experiences reported on blogs. Bloggers and people who comment on blogs are considered trusted sources for product and service information.

To access a copy of summary data please visit BlogHer.

Milissa Rick, VP of Online Insights