Blog Survey

Here are the results of a survey about blogging practices and their expectations of privacy and accountability. I wasn't a part of the survey so I'll be sure to interject my comments.

- the great majority of bloggers identify themselves on their sites: 55% of respondents provide their real names on their blogs; another 20% provide some variant of the real name (first name only, first name and initial of surname, a pseudonym friends would know, etc.)

From now on, in order to remain anonymous, I'll refer to myself as "Bookie" (hence, the title of this blog). Actually, I'll probably most likely refer to myself as "I" or "me" but if I ever reference myself in the third person I'll use "Bookie."

- 76% of bloggers do not limit access (i.e. readership) to their entries in any way

I thought about creating private entries that only certain people could access with a username and password. Thoughts?

- 36% of respondents have gotten in trouble because of things they have written on their blogs

I don't think I'm in any danger here. It's not like anyone reads this thing, anyway.

- 34% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in trouble with family and friends

I dodged a landmine on this one. A little creative editing and deleting and, BAM!, it's all good.

- 12% of respondents know other bloggers who have gotten in legal or professional problems because of things they wrote on their blogs

I think my friend is in discussions with Wal-Mart's legal team. I'm crossing my fingers.

- when blogging about people they know personally: 66% of respondents almost never asked permission to do so; whereas, only 9% said they never blogged about people they knew personally.

Yeah, like I'm going to ask the nerds if I can write about them! It's my freakin' blog... I can write about anything and anybody I want.

- 83% of respondents characterized their entries as personal ramblings whereas 20% said they mostly publish lists of useful/interesting links (respondents could check multiple options for this answer). This indicates that the nature of blogs might be changing from being mostly lists of links to becoming sites that contain more personal stories and commentaries.

ramble ramble ramble

- despite believing that they are liable for what they publish online (58% of respondents believed they were highly liable), in general, bloggers do not believe people could sue them for what they have written on their blogs.

I'll make sure I consult my legal team before posting anything that could result in litigation.