Blogging as a new medium of communication A study of bloggers’ motives in Oman

8/8/2019 Blogging as a new medium of communication A study of bloggers motives in Oman

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Blogging as a new mediumof communication

A study of bloggers motives in Oman

Dr. Samskrati Gulvady

College of Applied Sciences - Sohar, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract:

The advancement of communication technology is giving a

new dimension to the production and consumption of news/

communicat ion around t he world. Passive consumers of informat ion

are becoming part icipant s in a new kind of journalism medium called

blogging.

The Sultanat e of Oman is also seeing an upward t rend in t he blogging

act ivit ies among its communit y. It is in this perspect ive that t he

st udy explored the mot ives of t he bloggers ( in English language)

in t he Sultanat e. This study draws on the Uses and Grat ificat ions

approach of media use to explore t he reasons why people are

mot ivat ed t o author personal blogs, and how demographics are

related with blogging mot ivat ions.The reasons for b logging can be categorized (as per t he bloggers

opinion) as: self -document at ion, improving writ ing, medium

appeal, informat ion, passing t ime and socializat ion. Most of t hese

mot ivat ions are relat ed to each ot her. Self -document at ion exhibit s

t he funct ion of blogs as a combinat ion of diary, not ebook and a

mailing list t hrough which bloggers keep ot hers posted on t heir up-

t o-dat e news. Improving writ ing mot ivat ion t alks more of writ ing as

an enjoyable act ivit y for some bloggers - t hey blog t o pract ice writ ing

in the pursuit of refining their thinking process. Medium appeal is a

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unique mot ivat ion gaining at t ent ion for t he new at t ribut es of new

media. Medium appeal of blogs lies on t he pract ical advant age of

t he int ernet and t echnical innovat ion of blogging t ools. Informat ion

mot ivat ion emphasizes the grat ificat ions sought for surveillance

f rom t he perspect ive of audience as informat ion consumers; t he

information motivation for blogging stresses the satisfaction

gained f rom providing informat ion t o ot hers.

Considering t he feat ures of int ernet t echnology t o be mult i-form

and expansive, blogs serve a variety of ends for people. The findings

of t he research indicate t hat bloggers can consciously sat isfy t heirunique mot ivat ions by advant ages of blogs as an open, free and social

venue for int rapersonal, int erpersonal and mass communicat ion.

Keywords: Blog; blogging mot ivat ions; Users and grat ificat ions;

gender dif ferences/ similarit ies


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Introduction:

One of t he most curious recent t rends in Int ernet communicat ion

is blogs which have at t ained prominent popularit y since t he end

of 20 t h century. A blog also known as weblog in it s most basic form

can be defined as a f requent ly updat ed website consist ing of dat ed

ent ries arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent

post appears first a. Mass media hails blogs as a revolut ionary f orm

of cit izen journalism and hype t he democrat izing power inherent in

blogs.

The cont ent of blogs is subject t o a bloggers free will. Technically,

since anybody with access t o t he int ernet is able t o publish their

own blog, t here is great variet y in the qualit y, cont ent and ambit ion

of b logs. Wit hin t radit ionally mediated communicat ion channels,

audiences usually play t he role of passive message receivers. The

int eract ive feat ure of t he int ernet renders users not only informat ion

consumers but also message producers. Blogs require bloggers t o

devote much more t ime and ef fort t o produce messages t han t o

simply obt ain t hem from media.

Dan Li cites (August 2005) that Equity Theory helps to explain

t he gap of eff ort bet ween blogging behaviour and normal media

consumpt ion. Therefore, the act ive publishing process presupposes

t hat bloggers have specific mot ives t o conduct t he act and seekcert ain grat ificat ions f rom t he act ivity. Reciprocally bloggers have

complete cont rol over nearly every aspect of t heir blogs given t he

boundless characterist ics of blogs in respect t o blog cont ent and

form. Bloggers are few t o add or change everyt hing on blogs t he

only const raint s are informat ion t echnology and imaginat ion.

Blogs popularit y and versat ilit y prompt t wo main quest ions: why do

people blog? How do t hey blog? Researchers around t he world have

embarked on exploring bloggers mot ivat ions.


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This st udy aims t o look int o t he mot ives of bloggers ( in English

language) in the Sultanate of Oman, where the blogging trend is

recent ly emerging. This st udy draws on t he Uses and Grat ificat ions

approach of media use t o explore the reasons why people author

personal blogs, and how t hose reasons st eer t hem in maint aining

t heir blogs.

In the current study, the researcher proposes to look in to the

following areas:

- What are t he mot ivat ions to write blogs?

- How are demographics relat ed wit h blogging

motivations?

Since the birt h of Uses and Grat ificat ions framework a few decades

ago, nearly all the media and communicat ion t echnologies have been

scrut inised under t his. Underst anding f unct ions and grat ificat ions

f rom media helps explain t he int eract ion between media and

audiences, t his leading t o a more complet e knowledge of media

effects.

As a new form of Comput er-mediated-communicat ion (CMC), blogs

inherit t he principal charact erist ics of CMC while exhibit ing some

interest ing new pat t erns. Given t he flexibilit y and expansibility

of blogging t ools, blogs present t he combinat ion of onlineself-representation, community building, and interpersonal

communicat ion in an innovat ive way.

The Uses and Grat ificat ions approach shift s t he emphasis of

communication research from what the media do to people to

what people do wit h t he media. This focuses on the presumpt ion

t hat media audiences play t he role as act ive communicators. Some

scholars elaborated t he role of act ive audiences. They argues t hat

in t he process of media choice and use, audiences perceive specific


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communicat ion goal, evaluat e t he potent ial grat ificat ions obt ained

f rom exposure to cert ain communicat ion channels and t hen select

t he appropriat e channels t o sat isfy t heir communicat ive needs.

Audiences also make a conscious and goal-directed choice of media

channels and cont ent .

Despit e t he dist inct ive t rait s inherent in those media, most of t he

broad mot ivat ions found by previous CMC studies fall int o t he five-

part t ypology of audience needs derived from convent ional media.

A f ew except ions include t hose mot ivat ions exclusively elicit ed byspecific new media at t ributes. The t echnical characterist ics work as

a cat alyst for audiences select ion of one medium over another. The

needs form a new cat egory t ermed as media appeal.

Cognit ive needs:

needs relat ed t o st rengthening informat ion, knowledge and

understanding. This is possibly the most important motivation

for internet users in that the huge storage of information and

searchable feat ure enable t he informat ion ret rieval at unparalled

levels of convenience and speed.

Affective needs: needs related to strengthening aesthetic,

pleasurable and emot ional experience.

Personal int egrat ive needs: needs relat ed to st rengt heningcredibilit y, confidence, stabilit y and status a combinat ion of

cognit ive and af fect ive needs.

Social int egrat ive needs: needs related t o st rengthening cont act

wit h family, f riends and t he world.

Tension release needs: needs related t o escape or t ension release,

which was defined in terms of weakening of cont act with self and

ones social roles.


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Medium appeal:needs emerged as t he dist inguishing mot ivat ions

uses can obtain only from int ernet act ivit y.

Methodology:

This research aims t o observe the mot ives of t he Omani (bot h

cit izen as well as resident ) bloggers in t heir personal blogs. Blogging

has been an emerging t rend in the Sultanat e of Oman. Though t he

internet users have increased 3.8% in 2000 t o more than 11% in

2007 b, in Oman over t he last few years, the blogging act ivity has not

increased proport ionat ely. People are slowly coming t o know of it swidespread nat ure, and t hus vent uring int o t he blogosphere.

In t his study, preliminary work was conduct ed t o look into various

studies done on t he topic of bloggers mot ives. A quest ionnaire

was designed by referring t o ideas of dif ferent st udies, like Polish

bloggers mot ivat ions, and American bloggers mot ivat ions. The

pat t ern of t he quest ionnaire was designed in a way which was

convenient for bloggers t o respond, where they had t o chose t heir

opinion on reasons for blogging f rom t he range of st rongly agree,

agree, somewhat agree, neit her agree nor disagree, somewhat

disagree, st rongly disagree, rat her t han using t he seven-point Likert

scale where t he respondent s have t o indicat e t heir endorsement s

on a scale of 1 ( st rongly disagree) t o 7 ( st rongly agree). All t he

questions posed in the questionnaire were close-ended rather

t han open-ended.A random convenient sampling was done, aft er

screening t he English language blogs creat ed by t he cit izens andresident s of Oman. Quest ionnaires were circulat ed t o t he bloggers,

and their responses analyzed.

Sample:

The researcher began t he st udy by at t empt ing t o find t he blogs

in Oman. Dif ferent key words like Oman English blogs, Omani

bloggers, Oman blogging mot ives, Oman bloggers list , et c were

used in the Google search engine. This led t he researcher t o quit e a

few blogs (bot h English and Arabic language).


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The Oman Communit y Blogc (OCB) gives a list of some Omani blogs

in English regist ered wit h t hem. It was found that a few of t he blogs

list ed in t his community blogs were inact ive, inaccessible or not

updated for a long time. Hence such blogs were not considered

for t he st udy. Apart f rom accessing t he blogs listed in OCB, t he

researcher contacted the moderators of this blog to provide

contact s/ list of t he fellow bloggers. Some of t he bloggers whom

t he researcher cont act ed t hrough email did not t o respond. The OCB

list s nearly 7 0 blogs. The researcher was able to t rack 92 English

blogs which belonged to Omani cit izens, expat riates and a couple oft hem belonged t o t hose who have repat riat ed from Oman.

The quest ionnaire was designed in a way which would be convenient

for t he respondent s t o give his/ her responses. Quest ions relat ing

t o gender, age, nat ionalit y, locat ion in Oman/ out side, level of

educat ion were covered in t he first part of t he st udy. The second

sect ion consist ed of quest ions relat ing t o t he durat ion of blogging

act ivit y and t he type of blogs read by t he bloggers. In t he third

sect ion, the respondent s were given 20 pot ent ial reasons regarding

why people blog, and t he readers for whom t hey blog. In t he other

sect ion, t he respondents were t o answer whet her t hey considered

blogging as Journalism, All the listed blogs were examined and t he

quest ionnaire was emailed t o t hose addresses which were available

in the blogs. Some of the bloggers had not revealed their email

addresses. Hence t he researcher had t o cont act t he moderat or ofOCB, who in t urn contacted t he bloggers who were registered wit h

OCB. Nearly 50 emails were sent . In t hose blogs where email was not

available, a message in t he comment box was sent t o t he bloggers

ment ioning t he purpose of study. Only a few bloggers responded to

t his message.

The t ot al response received was 38 , out of which 35 were used for

t he st udy. Three responses were considered invalid for t he st udy as

t he respondent s maint ained Arabic language blogs.


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Limitations:

This explorat ory st udy has several limit at ions. This study aimed t o

use a random sample of bloggers t o increase t he ability t o generalize

t he research findings. It is wort hwhile t o ment ion t hat t he study had

t o exclude blogs/ bloggers t hat failed t o respond to t he researcher,

had blocked t heir blogs, or were inact ive.

Second, examining bloggers behaviors by self report s runs the risk

of measuring errors due t o inherent design problems in surveys

and bloggers cognitive gap between their actual behaviors and

memories. The recommended way is to do a content analysis ofsampled blogs t o measure corresponding values as compet ent t o

bloggers self-report .

Findings:

Bloggers have specific mot ives t o conduct t he act and seek cert ain

grat ificat ions f rom t he act ivity. Thus, in t his study, t he researcher

was able t o collect t he dat a and come up with some findings common

among t he cross-sect ion of t he societ y.

With help of the responses received, the researcher was able to

delve in to a st udy about t he mot ives of bloggers in Oman, which

is assumed t hat it may be the first of it s kind in t he Sultanat e. The

researcher observed t hat t here was a common t rend in t he way

people write in t heir blogs. The bloggers most ly writ e about t heir

personal experiences, t hought s, opinions of local issues, and

somet imes int ernat ional issues (like t he financial crisis) relat ing itt o Oman, leisure, food reviews, and so on. It was interest ing t o not e

t hat t he bloggers paid at t ent ion even t o so-called t rivial things like

cleanliness of rest rooms in cert ain rest aurant s, and not only serious

mat t ers like vehicle accident s, civic sense, or educat ion. A female

blogger shares her views about t he content in Omani blogs: Have

you ever realized how bloggers diff er f rom one user t o another and

f rom one count ry t o another? While Omani bloggers maint ain a

common norm of post ing t hings in general with a reflect ion t owards

t he count ry, t heir daily act ivit ies, music or news ot her bloggers


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are more daring and venture t o discuss issues which we could not

conceive of placing on our blogs. We are mot ivat ed by nature t o be

more on t he reclusive side and t hus present ourselves in a perfect ly

accept able light d.

Table (1) Blogging mot ivat ions


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The researcher invest igat ed the mot ivat ions by cat egorizing t he

mot ivat ions in t o six main areas namely:

A. Self-document at ion B. Improving writ ing

C. Medium appeal D. Informat ion

E. Passing t ime F. Socializing

It was seen that the highest motive or the favorable reason for

blogging was informat ion (sharing/ providing) medium appeal,

followed by improving writ ing. The bloggers did not considerblogging as a main tool t o pass their f ree t ime.

Informat ion mot ive:

Majorit y of t he respondents are of t he opinion t hat t hat blogging

acts as a device t o provide informat ion to t he fellow bloggers and

t o t he general public, to share informat ion which they feel may be

useful for their readers and also to present information on their

personal interest s.

Medium appeal:

The second important motive is the convenient appeal of the

blogging medium. Bloggers are fascinated by t his factor which

allows them t o pos anyt ime and access from anywhere.

Improving writ ing:The respondent s agree that blogging is a tool t o improve t heir

writ ing skills be it t heir passion t owards writ ing or t o refine t heir

t hinking. By blogging bot h t hese purposes are served.

Self-documentation:

The researcher explored t he self-document ed feat ure available in

blogs, which gives t he bloggers a chance t o keep a record of what

t hey learn and document t heir life. Many disagreed t o t he fact t hat

blogging is used to keep in t ouch wit h family/ f riends. With many


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ot her advanced t elecommunicat ion t echnologies, t he general

public has more opt ions to socialize wit h t heir near and dear ones,

rat her t han blogging which needs some expert ise (discussed below

in the educat ion level) .

Socializing:

There is a mixed response to t he mot ive of b logging as a t ool of

socializat ion. Many respondent s agree / neither agree nor disagree

t hat t hey blog t o feel like a part of t he community, t o meet new

people, and t o influence ot hers. A small percent age of t he bloggersuse blogging t o earn money / do business.

Passing t ime:

Blogging is not at considered as a t ool t o pass t ime by t he selected

respondent s. But majorit y of t he bloggers prefer t o blog in order to

t ry out new things like blogging, and few of t hem blog t o have a feel

t hat it is t he t hing to do in t his computer age.

Table 2 Demographic dif ferences (Gender, Age, Educat ion Level

and & Nat ionality)


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Table 2 shows t he graphical represent at ion about t he numbers

of respondents, gender, the age group t he Oman-based bloggers

belonged to and t heir civil stat us (whether a cit izen or resident ) ,

which are discussed as follows.

Nat ionalit y, Gender and Blogging:

From t he 35 responses received, 22 were male respondent s and 13

were female. It was seen t hat t he numbers of Omani female bloggers

was slight ly more in number t han t heir male count erpart s, whereas

among the expat riat es, t he males outnumbered t he females.

The higher number of Omani female bloggers can be associat ed

wit h t he feat ure of anonymity available in the medium of blogging.

While blogging, it is not mandatory f or t he blogger t o reveal his/

her real name, because of which it is generally assumed t hat many

female bloggers chose t his f reedom t o seek or share informat ion

which is important to them. It could also be associated with the

social const raint s t hat are obligatory in t he societ y. Thus blogging

becomes a channel t o vent t heir expressions and ideas and share it

with t he world.

The researcher observed that t he part icipat ion of t he local female

bloggers was higher in number, which is cont radict ory t o t he findings

in anot her st udy about t he Arab blogs (Dr. Abbasse) , in which he

observes that t he female bloggers amount t o a mere 6.7%.

Age and blogging:

Age is an import ant factor t o be considered in blogging. The maximum

numbers (23 out of 3 5) of respondent s are in t he age group of 2 1-3 0

and 31-40. A f ew bloggers (9 out of 3 5) in t he 10 -20 age group and

st ill fewer (3 out of 35) who are above 41 years. A t ypical blogger

is supposed t o have charact erist ics like: regular access t o internet ,

college level education, above-average computer literacy, which


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suit t he younger generat ion wit h t he st ereot ypical image of an early

adopter of new informat ion and communicat ion t echnology.

Another fact or for fewer respondent s in t he 41+ age group may be

due t o t he age limit set in t he count ry f or t he expat riat es working

here. The majority of respondents who fall in the age group of

21-30 / 31-40 indicat e the bloggers who are more eager t o be in

t ouch wit h world when compared t o t he former. Blogs are st ill on

t he way t o obt ain popularit y among people from all walks of life.

Educat ion level of bloggers:The educat ion level of t he bloggers was also quit e high, where most

of them had a bachelors (14 respondents) or masters degree

(12 respondent s). A f ew respondent s were st ill in high school1 (8

respondents).

This reflects t he nature of b loggers t o have t he basic qualit ies

like formal educat ion, comput er lit eracy and advanced comput er

expert ise.

Geographical locat ion of bloggers:

Another int erest ing observat ion was t hat t he major chunk (2 7 out

of 3 5) of t he bloggers (bot h Omani cit izens and expat riat es) were

based in t he capit al cit y Muscat , 1 in Sohar (t he closest developed

t own near Muscat ) and t he others (7) were temporarily based in

foreign count ries like Dubai, UK, US and Aust ralia for purposes of

higher educat ion.

This feature of bloggers concent rat ing on cosmopolit an cit ies could

be associated with reasons like: the capital cit y having bet t er access

t o t he opportunit ies, and more awareness about t he new media

t han t he int erior regions of t he Sultanate. A few bloggers who are in

ot her foreign count ries for purposes of higher educat ion also have

an access t o t he new media, and bet t er awareness of it s magnitude.

1 The bloggers of the younger age were also considered for the study, as the sample size of bloggers

was small.


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This t able refers t o t he gender preferences (similarit ies /

diff erences) of reading t opics f rom ot her blogs.

Table (3 ) Gender and blog t opics

Reading about t he everyday life experiences of ot her bloggers, ranks

t he highest bot h among male and female blogger respondent s. IT

and blogging t opics are preferred by males more than t heir f emale

count erpart s. Reading preferences on Phot ography and art t opics

are similar in bot h t he genders. This fact or could be associat ed

t o t he art loving nat ure of t he people living in Oman. Polit ics and

societ y is anot her preferred topic followed by Travel. A not iceable

diff erence is that none of t he men recorded their int erests in t opicslike feminism, parenthood-children or healt hcare-illness.

Discussion:

Profi le of t he bloggers who are blogging?

During t he past decade years, int ernet usage has experienced

a populat ion explosion in t he Sultanate of Oman. According

t o t he st at ist ics published in t he Oman Int ernet Usage and

Telecommunicat ions Report in Int ernet World St ats Usage and

populat ion stat ist ics t he usage has increased f rom 3 .8% in 2000


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t o more than 11% in 200 7 f. But t he blogosphere is yet t o grow in t he

same magnitude.

Year Users Population

2000 90,000 2,424,422

2002 180,000 2,398,545

2005 245,000 2,424,422

2007 300,000 3,311,640

In this study, the men represented the majority of the blogging

populat ion (62.9%). But considering t he cit izens / expat riat es

and t he gender, t he female bloggers (cit izens) were slight ly more

(52.4%) in number. But among the expatriates, male bloggers

outnumbered (85.7%) their female counterparts (14.3%). The

higher number of Omani female bloggers can be associat ed wit ht he feat ure of anonymit y available in t he medium of blogging.

While blogging, it is not mandatory f or t he blogger t o reveal his/

her real name, because of which it is generally assumed t hat many

female bloggers chose t his f reedom t o seek or share informat ion

which is important to them. It could also be associated with the

social const raint s t hat are obligatory in t he societ y. Thus blogging

becomes a channel t o vent t heir expressions and ideas and share it

with t he world.

The geographical locat ion of t he bloggers can be considered as a

major component in t heir blogging characterist ics. The int erest ing

observat ion was that t he majorit y ( 27 out of 3 5) of t he bloggers

(bot h Omani cit izens and expat riat es) were based in t he capital

cit y Muscat , 1 in Sohar ( t he closest developed t own near Muscat )

and t he others (7) were temporarily based in foreign count ries likeDubai, UK, US and Aust ralia for purposes of higher educat ion. This


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feat ure of bloggers concent rat ing on cosmopolitan cit ies could be

associated wit h reasons like: t he capital cit y having bet t er access

t o t he opportunit ies, and more awareness about t he new media

t han t he int erior regions of t he Sultanat e. A few bloggers who are in

ot her foreign count ries for purposes of higher educat ion also have

an access t o t he new media, and bet t er awareness of it s magnitude.

The results of t he topics preferred t o read on ot her blogs by male

and f emale bloggers suggests t hat t he reading preferences were

similar between bot h t he genders. Except ing that none of t he male

bloggers read blog t opics about feminism, parent hood-children andhealthcare-illness.

The maximum numbers of bloggers were in t he age group range

of 10-20, 21-30 and 31-40 among the males. There were only

3 males above 41 years. Among the females, the maximum

numbers were between the age group 21-30 and nil in the age

group above 41 years. This may be associat ed wit h reasons like:

regular access t o t he int ernet , educat ion level, comput er lit eracy,

and family commit ments, which suit t he younger generat ion with

the stereotypical image of an early adopter of new information

and communicat ion t echnology. These characterist ics along with

gender/ age fit well wit h t he stereot ypical image of an early adopter

of new informat ion and communicat ion t echnology. Anot her fact or

for fewer respondent s in t he 41+ age group may be due t o t he age

limit set in t he count ry for t he expat riat es working here.

The majorit y of respondent s who fall in t he age group of 21-3 0/ 31 -

40 indicat e the bloggers who are more eager t o be in t ouch wit h

world when compared t o t he former. Blogs are st ill on the way t o

obt ain popularit y among people f rom all walks of life.


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Blog t opic preferences:

what are people reading about ?

In terms of topics read by Oman-based (both male and female)

bloggers, everyday life experiences are the most preferred among

t he fellow bloggers. This is followed by t opics like: IT & blogging ,

phot ography and art , polit ics and societ y and journalism and

media.

Mot ivat ions for blogging:

why people blog?The Users and Grat ificat ions approach has been acknowledged as

a valuable lens for audience st udies, especially studies on audience

mot ives and behaviors in t he context of media users as informat ion

consumers. This paper followed t he previous research on bloggers

mot ivat ions while applied t he most widely used methodology in the

Users and Grat ificat ions st udies self report s from bloggers.

Reasons for blogging can be categorized as: self-document at ion,

improving writ ing, medium appeal, informat ion, passing t ime and

socializat ion. Most of t hese mot ivat ions are related t o each ot her.

Self -document at ion exhibit s t he funct ion of blogs as a combinat ion

of diary, not ebook and a mailing list t hrough which bloggers keep

ot hers posted on t heir up-t o-date news. Blogs are used as a tool

of knowledge management bloggers keep a record of what t hey

learn, what t hey t hink, etc. Addit ionally, bloggers take advant ageof easy accessibilit y t o keep in t ouch with fellow bloggers.

Improving writ ing mot ivat ion talks more of writ ing as an enjoyable

act ivit y f or some bloggers - t hey blog t o pract ice writ ing in the

pursuit of refining their thinking process. In t his sense, blogging is

an inst rumental act ivity combined wit h int erest . The relat ionship

bet ween writ ing advancement , medium appeal, and socializat ion

indicate t hat bloggers make full use of t he inst ant -publishing

characteristics and feedback features to improve their writing

skills.


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Medium appeal is a unique mot ivat ion gaining at t ent ion for t he new

at t ribut es of new media. Medium appeal of blogs lies on t he pract ical

advant age of t he int ernet and t echnical innovat ion of blogging

t ools. Like ot her forms of CMC, blogs can be accessed by internet

users and t hus have a huge populat ion of pot ent ial readers.

Informat ion mot ivat ion emphasizes the grat ificat ions sought

for surveillance f rom t he perspect ive of audience as informat ion

consumers; t he informat ion mot ivat ion for blogging st resses t he

sat isfact ion gained f rom providing informat ion t o ot hers.Passing t ime, defined as the only rit ual mot ivat ion, is also the

single mot ivat ion t hat was not commonly approved by bloggers.

In considerat ion of t he ef fort s needed t o blog, blogging is a far less

relaxing act ivity t han watching t elevision, listening t o radio, or

surfing t he int ernet .

Socializat ion exhibits an import ant aspect of blogs as a

plat form t o develop and maint ain int erpersonal relat ionships.

The characterist ics of t he int ernet as combinat ion of mass

communication and interpersonal communication provide the

technical foundation for the establishment of interpersonal

channel. Mot ivat ions for media use are presupposed t o be af fect ed

by personal and social circumst ances around media users.

Cont rary t o t he ot her similar st udies, in this study, male and femalebloggers indicate similar preference of blog t opics and t he locat ion.

No diff erences of mot ivat ions were observed among bloggers wit h

various educat ional backgrounds. In t his sense, blogs can overcome

t he possible knowledge gap caused by educat ional at t ainment s and

sat isfy all levels of bloggers.


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Suggest ions for furt her research:

This study creates a baseline for f ut ure research on t he credibilit y of

blogs as a source of informat ion to t he cit izens; comparing bloggers

opinion who consider blogging as journalism, but t he professional

journalists deny t his opinion, i.e. blogging vs. journalism; the fut ure

of blogs as a new medium of communicat ion, and so on. This st udy

can also be t aken forward to analyze the cont ent of t he bloggers

by combining the qualitative and quantitative methodology. The

impact of the geographical location of the blogger, in this case,where most of t he bloggers were concent rated in Muscat , can also

be taken furt her.

Conclusion:

Considering t he feat ures of int ernet t echnology t o be mult iform

and expansive, blogs serve a variety of ends for people. The findings

of t he research indicate t hat bloggers can consciously sat isfy t heir

unique mot ivat ions by advant ages of blogs as an open, free and social

venue for int rapersonal, int erpersonal and mass communicat ion.


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References:

1.Adams, D. 20 07 . Journalism, cit izens and blogging. htt p:/ / www.networkinsight .org/

verve/ _resources/ AdamsD.pdf (accessed 2 5/ 03 / 20 07 )

2. ht t p:/ / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Blog accessed February 20 08

3. www.google.com.om

4. Pg. 4, Milestones commemorat ing His Majest ys 37 t h Renaissance Day 2007-

08. First Publishing. SJS Group. Sult anate of Oman

Notes:

Survey quest ionnaire

1. What is your gender?

Male Female

2. What is your age?

10-20

21-30

31-40

41-50and above 51

3. Status:

Omani citizen

Omani resident

4. Nat ionalit y: .

5. Location:

(Oman (please specify the region/place

(Outside Oman (please specify the country


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6. Please indicat e t he highest level of educat ion complet ed.

elementary school

high school or equivalent

college/university

master/professional degree

Ph.D

7. For how long have you been blogging?

less than 3 months

months 3-6

months 7-12

years 1-2

years 3-4

years or more 5

8. What t ypes of blogs do you usually read? (select all t hat apply)

advertising and PR

business and entrepreneurship

Education

everyday life experiences

Feminism

flm and TV

photography and art

parenthood and children

healthcare and illness

IT and blogging

journalism and media

literature and writing

food and beverages

fashion and design

Music

politics and society

Travel

Religion

sports and leisure

Science

Languages

(Other (pls. specify


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9. Where do you blog? (select all t hat apply)

Home

SchoolWorkplace

(Other (Please specify

10. Here, you will find a number of po t ent ial reasons regarding why people blog. Please

read over each of t he pot ent ial reasons and then select an appropriate response based on

your level of agreement with that statement . I blog..

Strongly

agreeagree

Somewhat

agree

Neither agree

nor disagree

Somewhat

disagreeisagree

strongly

disagree

To feel like I am partof a community

to provide information

because it is enjoyable

because I can publish

at any time

because I can access it

wherever I am

to document my life

because it is the thing

to do

to learn about new

technology/skills

because it helps pass

time

to keep in touch with

my family / friends

to keep a record of

what I learn

to share information

useful to other people

to present informationon my interests

because it is fun trying

out new things like

blogging

to refne my thinking

to meet new people

because I like writing

to inuence others

to earn money / do

business

to seek outside

opinions and feedback


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11 . Who are among t he readers you mainly blog for? ( select all that apply)

MyselfFamily

Friends

Colleagues

internet acquaintance

general public

dont know

Other (Please specify)

12. Do you consider blogging as form of journalism?

Yes

No

13 . About how many years have you had access to t he Int ernet (including email, et c)

less than 1 year

1-3 years

4-6 years

7-9 years

10 years or more

14 . How of t en do you access t he internet ?

several times a day

about once a day

3-5 times a week

1-2 times a week

less often

15 . How many hours do you spend on t he internet in a week? __ __ __

(Endnotes)

a-ht t p:/ / commonsenseblog.typepad.com Accessed December 29 , 20 09


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b-Oman-Int ernet Usage and Market ing Report . htt p:/ / www.int ernet worldst atus.com/

me/ om.ht m accessed October 200 8

c- htt p:/ / omancommunit yblog.blogspot .com

d- Omani blogs: where t o? December 20 05 .

ht t p:/ / omaniidiot .blogspot .com/ 20 05 / 12 / omani-blogs-where-t o.ht ml. accessed

October 20 08

e- Sadig, Dr. Abbas Mustafa; Arab Blogs.. analyt ical study on cont ent and format ;

November 20 06

f- Oman-Internet Usage and Market ing Report . htt p:/ / www.int ernet worldst atus.com/

me/ om.ht m accessed October 200 8

Blogging as a new medium of communication A study of bloggers’ motives in Oman

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