Hugh Hewitt talked about this today. The Blog World and New Media Expo (in Las Vegas, NV) is:
“The first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media. In addition to the only industry-wide exhibition, BlogWorld will feature the largest blogging conference in the world including more than 50 seminars, panel discussions and keynotes from iconic personalities on the leading-edge of online technology and internet-savvy business.”
The conference is apparently for bloggers of all types. The program organizers say, “If you blog about business, technology, politics, sports, lifestyle & culture, general news items, or celebrity gossip, If you are a Milblogger, or Godblogger, or advocate a social position you need to be at BlogWorld & New Media Expo.”
I found these blogging statistics to be interesting:
* Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
* More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
* Over 57 million Americans read blogs (that’s almost 40%).
* 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
* 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
* 9% of internet users say they have created blogs .
* 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog .
* Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs .
* Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day .
* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day .
* 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs .
* 120,000 new blogs are created every day .
* 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006.
* 51% of blog readers shop online.
* Blog readers average 23 hours online each week. (But do we read our Bibles?)
My two-cents worth: Though much of the blogosphere can be ugly, blogging can be a great way to reflect on significant issues/events, to bless others, and to grow as a writer. Blogging can promote engaging discussion and the solidification of personal convictions on a range of issues. But it also presents the dangers of aimless time-wasting (and its inevitable corollary: failure to read the Bible and pray), narcissism (who is saying what about ME today? how many people are visiting MY blog?), and writing mean things which one would never say to someone face-to-face. For those who blog, I would commend these suggestions from Abraham Piper on blog reading and blog writing.
Update: The GodBlogCon Conference this year is being held in conjunction with the Blogworld & New media Expo. (HT: Ted Slater)