The active audience of the weblog format

Abstract

Through interviews and a survey, this thesis examines blog reading along several dimensions, including motivations for reading weblogs, audience interaction with the weblog format, and the use of tools to find and keep track of blogs. It proposes a typology of 'audience activity' based on the structural features of the weblog format, which includes the navigation of, contribution to, and promotion of blog content. It identifies reading behaviours, impediments to audience activities, and the ways that readers judge the credibility of blogs. This research serves to inform the design of tools that interface with the blogosphere, and it provides a foundation to help software developers to harness different types of audience activity.