July 15, 2010
Blog, Blog, Blog: LGBT Americans Blabber More Than Straights
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Gossipy? Celebrity chowhounds? Us? Well, perhaps that's at least one interpretation of the recent nationwide survey conducted by Harris Interactive (as in the Harris Poll, long-time purveyors of American minutiae) in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications (sometimes known as the lavender PR firm, given their LGBT expertise).
Are our reading habits and social networking really different from heterosexuals? According to the experts who polled 2,412 adults, 54% of LGBT respondents read blogs of some type, while only 40% of heterosexuals take the time.
As for Facebook, a remarkable 73% of LGBT respondents claim membership-compared to only 65% of heterosexual adults.
Over at Twitter, the divide is even greater, with nearly thirty percent of us as members, while only 15% of straights can be bothered to Tweet.
"Social networking sites have not only come of age for gay America," says Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications, "but in many ways have become the virtual, new gay community centers and marketplace."
As for the once-mighty MySpace, only 32% of LGBT respondents report being members, compared to 22% of heterosexual respondents (a marked attenuation from previous years for both groups).
More than half of LGBT respondents (55%) say that they visit social network sites at least once a day-while only 41% of heterosexual report the same frequency.
Authors of the study concluded that gay and lesbian adults online today are among the nation's most loyal blog readers and social network users. LGBT loyalty-no surprise there. Just ask Donna Summer.
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
