Fred Wilson thinks so.
I was reading Technorati’s State Of The Blogosphere report yesterday. It has a lot of data on bloggers but not so much on readers. And I’m more curious about readers than bloggers.
I believe that blog reading has gone completely mainstream based largely on discussions I’ve had with friends who are not in the tech business (one advantage of living and working in NYC) and based on talking to my kids and their friends. I really don’t know anyone who doesn’t read blogs these days.
These are big numbers. Blogs are being read by hundreds of millions of people worldwide every month and the growth numbers for companies like Tumblr and Disqus (both of which are Union Square Ventures portfolio companies) are very encouraging.
I think it is clear from a quick review of these numbers that blog reading is a mainstream and a mass medium. And the companies that serve this market, both bloggers and blog readers, are in a very interesting position.
The thesis that blogs were a new form of publishing and self expression is playing out nicely and we are pleased with the progress of our companies and the market as a whole. And I think we are not anywhere near the end game.
It depends upon the definition of blogging. If you include facebook and twitter status updates then I would say blogging has gone mainstream. If not, I don’t think it has yet, though I think it is on its way.