In America today, there are (almost) as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers. Already more Americans are making their (primary) income from posting their opinions than Americans working as computer programmers or firefighters.
Paid bloggers fit just about every (definition) of a microtrend: Their ranks have grown dramatically over the years, blogging is an important social and cultural movement that people care passionately about, and the number of people doing it for (at least) some income is approaching 1% of American adults.
The best studies we can find say we are a (nation) of over 20 million bloggers, with 1.7 million profiting from the work, and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income. That's almost 2 million Americans getting paid by the word, the (post), or the (click) -- whether on their site or someone else's. And that's nearly half a million of whom it can be said, as Bob Dylan did of Hurricane Carter: 'It's my work he'd say, I do it for pay.'
This could make us the most (noisily) opinionated nation on earth. The Information Age has spawned many new professions, but blogging could well be the one with the most (profound) effect on our culture. If journalists were the Fourth Estate, bloggers are becoming the Fifth Estate.
Almost no blogging is by subscription; rather, it owes it economic (model) to on-line advertising. Bloggers make money if their consumers click the (ads) on their sites. Some sites even pay writers by the click, which is of course a system that promotes sensationalism, or doing whatever it takes to get noticed.
It is hard to think of another job category that has (grown) so quickly and become such a force in society without having any tests, degrees, or regulation of virtually any kind. Courses on blogging are now cropping up, and we can't be (far away) from the Columbia School of Bloggerism. There is a lot of interest now in Twittering and Facebooking -- but those venues don't offer the career opportunities of blogging. Not since eBay opened its doors have so many been able to sit at their computer screens and make some money, or even make a (whole) living.
Question)
1. What basic qualifications should the bloggers have?
2. Do you want to be a professional blogger? How will this new job change our work and life style?
