Teenagers and weblogs

My mother told me about this article on BBC News about teenagers and weblogs. It discusses research about teenage bloggers. For example, in terms of a gender breakdown, research shows that the split is about 50/50. It also discusses why blogs are wildly popular among teens and the ways in which they are being used, e.g. as a form of self-therapy. One interesting quote, from a professor at Georgetown University: “The average blog post is about 2,000 words, which is really interesting when you are trying to get kids to write essays.” In other words, blogs are demonstrating that teens are willing to write, and that they are willing to write much more than expected. A few other interesting study results: 67% tend to use the comments feature; teens tend to be perhaps a bit too revealing about personal details in blogs, more so than in chat rooms; and male bloggers have more of a tendency to reveal details about their location, whereas female bloggers tend to link to their personal webpages.

What are implications for libraries of teenagers’ interest in blogging? I think there are several. One obvious one is that we must be aware of this socio-cultural phenomenon. Incoming students at the university level likely are familiar and comfortable with blogs already. We can appeal to them by using this medium of expression in ways that will be attractive and familiar to them. The article mentioned above makes reference to some teachers using blogs to foster peer-review among students, which to me, fits like a glove with the increasing emphasis at my university and others, on group study and collaborative work. We need to think of ways in which to use blogs to foster this kind of connectivity with the library, not just as an information delivery tool, but as a tool for collaboration with students. Incoming students using the library may expect the ability to have more input and participation in services and programs of the library, and we need to allow them — perhaps via blogs and/or other means — the means to do that. Otherwise, they may be turned off or more easily dissatisfied with their interactions with the library. I think it also goes without saying that libraries, mine included, exist largely in a virtual environment. Many of our students are using library resources without ever (or seldom) visiting the physical library. I struggle with this all the time because I think it’s very important that the online library presence or environment be as easy and inviting to use as possible. Blogs may be one of the more important tools for achieving that goal.

Sometimes I feel a bit ahead of the curve on this one (importance of and excitement with blogging) in terms of my local environment. Then I read an article like this and it serves to confirm what I’ve been thinking. Thanks, Mother, for pointing this article out to me!