Asian bloggers on the rise

[via The AsiaTech]
A report on Windows Live Spaces suggest a surge in Asian bloggers:

-- Nearly half of those online in Asia have a blog
-- 74% find blogs by friends and family to be most interesting
-- Young people and women dominate (except India where it is overwhelmingly a male domain and Korea where blogging is a part of everyday life for all)
-- 50% believe blog content to be as trustworthy as traditional media
-- 41% spend more than three hours a week blogging
-- More than 40% have less than 10 visitors per week

Asia's blogosphere is surging forward with nearly half, 46%, of those online actively blogging, according to research released today by Microsoft's MSN and Windows Live Online Services Business. The research showed that blogging is a social phenomenon with Asians primarily blogging as a means to maintain and build their social connections and to express themselves.

Blogging as a corporate or business tool still appears to be nascent in most markets, with little interest from consumers in blogs from business or political leaders. The exceptions are online powerhouse Korea where blogging has permeated all aspects of life and India where a culture of self improvement is seeing business related blogs become very popular.

Blogging Asia: A Windows Live Report, released today, details the research findings which are based on an online survey of more than 25,000 MSN portal visitors across seven markets.

Social Connections and Self Expression Drive Asia's Bloggers

According to the report, the region's bloggers are primarily driven by the need to express themselves and share their lives with family and friends. The highest number of respondents (53%) indicated that they chose to start a blog to share a diary or photo album with loved ones.

The report also showed that Asia's blogosphere is fueled by youth with almost half of all bloggers (56%) under 25, while 35% are 25 to 34 years old, and 9% are 35 years old and over. When broken down by gender, 55% of bloggers in Asia were found to be female and 45% male.

"User created content and community based online services are really propelling the Internet in Asia right now," said Alex Stewart, Director of Microsoft's Online Services Business, Asia Pacific.