Going to the Blogs: Toward the Development of a Uses and Gratifications Measurement Scale for Blogs

This article investigates the uses and motivations for connecting to blogs. Rather than relying on motivations from preexisting scales measuring traditional media or Internet use that must be adapted for blogs, motivations are derived from open-ended questions about blog use from a preliminary survey. The current study is based on a follow-up survey conducted in 2007 to quantitatively investigate blog use. Factor analysis of 56 motivational items resulted in nine motivational factors: Convenient Information Seeking, Anti-Traditional Media Sentiment, Expression/Affiliation, Guidance/Opinion Seeking, Blog Ambiance, Personal Fulfillment, Political Debate, Variety of Opinion, and Specific Inquiry. This article also offers suggestions for reducing the number of motivational variables.