A new poll released Tuesday finds a
majority of gay adults frequent social networking sites and blogs.
The Harris Interactive online survey of
2,412 adults, of whom 271 self identified as gay or lesbian, found
that gay adults are among the nation's most frequent blog readers and
users of social networking sites.
A majority (54%) of gay adults read
blogs, up from 32% in 2006. Forty percent of heterosexual
respondents reported reading blogs.
Most gay adults reported reading news
and current issue blogs (36%), followed by entertainment and pop
culture blogs (25%). Both of those figures are higher than for their
heterosexual counterparts, of which 45% report reading news and
current issue blogs and 16% entertainment and pop culture blogs.
The survey also found that blogs
tailored to LGBT issues are among the most popular, with 35 percent
of respondents reporting they read such websites.
“My own work tells me gay men and
lesbians have tremendous need and appetite for authentic gay news and
information, and they want it fast,” Mike Rogers, director of the
National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative, said in a
statement.
On average, more gay adults utilize
social networking sites, versus heterosexual adults.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of gay
adults say they are members of Facebook and another 32 percent belong
to MySpace, about 10 percent more in each category than heterosexual
respondents.
“It is clear that blogs and social
networking sites have not only come of age for gay America – but in
many ways have become the virtual new gay community centers and
marketplace,” Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, a
consulting firm that specializes in the LGBT market, said.