I received the following message via my site. If you consider yourself a blogger (and I do - I consider online diarists, online journallers, and bloggers to be essentially the same thing, just with slightly different focii, but that's another post) please respond to Mathieu's survey. Thanks!
Hi
My name is Mathieu O'Neil, I'm currently a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University's Center of New Media Arts. I also contribute to a collective blog on New Media Arts called underthesun (http://underthesun.anu.edu.au/weblogs/underthesun/).
I came to your blog via Francis Strand's. I'm presently conducting a sociological survey of blogs, focusing on the social dynamics which lead people to blog and on how bloggers determine the value of their and other bloggers' work on the blogging market. My research findings will be presented at a conference at Macquarie University (Sydney), "Mobile Boundaries / Rigid Worlds: The Contemporary Paradox" in late September.
I conducted a similar survey with zine publishers in the mid-nineties, obtained 120 responses, and wrote up the results in an article entitled "The Lay of the Land. Portrait of the Zinester as a Social Statistic" which was published in the "zine of zines", Factsheet 5 (no. 62, 1997). I'm also interested in the possible continuities / discontinuities between blogs and zines.
So, I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to answer the following questions, as well as pass them on to anyone else who might be interested in taking part. Any information collected is for social science research purposes only, and will be be treated with the utmost confidentiality (hey, if you think collecting bloggers' personal details is some kind of fiendish conspiracy, be my guest).
A few pointers:
-Please do not modify the order of the questions.
-Please do not send in surveys after 5 SEPTEMBER, 2004. This is the official cut-off date.
-Please direct all queries and completed surveys to: oneil@homemail.com.au
Thanks!
Best,
Mathieu O'Neil
THE GREAT BLOGGER SURVEY
A-Your blog
How much time do you devote to your blog:
Name of your blog:
URL:
Started:
Genre (if applicable):
Subject:
Appearance:
Cost:
Updates:
Why did you start blogging:
What are you most proud of in your blog:
What does your offline entourage think of it:
B-Personal
Age:
Gender:
Residence (big-small town/where):
Profession:
Salary:
Did you go to university (if so, where):
Highest education degree(s) (in what):
Father's profession:
Mother's profession:
Paternal grandfather's profession:
Paternal grandmother's profession:
Maternal grandfather's profession:
Maternal grandmother's profession:
Religion (if any):
Political affiliation (if any):
C-Taste
Favorite food:
Favorite book:
Favorite music:
Favorite film:
Favorite computer game:
Where do you buy your clothes:
D-Technology
Your computer:
Your blogging software:
Internet connection:
Most common technical glitch:
E-The Blogosphere
How much time do you spend reading other blogs:
What is your favorite blog and why:
What is the best / worst thing about blogs:
Who do you link with:
Do you see yourself as belonging to a blog tribe:
Have any problems arisen because you blog:
What blogging practice annoys you the most:
Do you post comment in other blogs:
Do you subscribe to email lists / discussions (which ones):
What is your take on the blogosphere:
What do you think of the status of the "A-List":
F-Blogs and zines
Did you read zines?
How are zines and blogs similar:
How are zines and blogs different:
Before posting this, I asked Mathieu:
What an undertaking! Do I have permission to post your
survey, with the conditions included, in my journal? I wanted to be
sure to get your permission for two reasons:
1. Your email address is included - I don't want to be responsible
for your being assaulted by spam, but for all I know you may have
excellent spam blocking software.
2. There is a high likelihood of the survey being picked up by the
LiveJournal community, and you may get more results than you bargained
for.
Sorry it took so long to respond to your message. I hope to have the
survey itself completed well ahead of your deadline, though.
Mathieu said:
No problem at all, I can live with a bit of spam - in the name of
science! ; -)
I could also use some more responses...
So, please include the survey in your journal, by all means.
EDIT: Mathieu pointed out that there was a missing question, so I have added it above. It's 'What do you think of the status of the "A-List":' - I am scratching my head. I Googled around, and apparently the A-List is what they are now calling what we used to call "web celebrities". I haven't been able to figure out who's on the A-List, but I found a lot of people grousing about it - apparently this bit of humor is about them, so I guess these are the folks. If you know what it is and have an opinion on it, cool beans. I am sure Mathieu will want the answer to that one.
