India’s blogosphere is driven by youth and a passion for self improvement and entertainment, with 42% of online users reading blogs to stay informed about world events, 49% cited entertainment as the main reason they read blogs, and blogs written by business leaders ranking as the most interesting, says a new study on blogs by MSN and Windows Live Report.

An online survey of more than 1,000 visitors in India, highlighted that while growing in popularity in India, the blogging community is still nascent with only 14% of India’s netizens actively blogging while 39% were s aware of blogs.  

India’s blogosphere is heavily dominated by men; three quarters (76%) of its bloggers are male, while women only account for 24%. India’s blogosphere is also fueled by young adults with 54% of bloggers between the ages of 25 – 34, 32% under 25, and 15% over 35. 
 
A large majority of online users read blogs to stay informed about world events especially technology, news and education.

Blogs written by business leaders were found to be the most enjoyable to read, while those by politicians were found by 24% of respondents to be of regular interest.

“India’s nascent blogosphere is characterized by what all of India is striving to achieve today, to grow and learn whilst taking time from our busy lives to be entertained by role models in our communities,” says Jaspreet Bindra, Country Manager, MSN and Windows Live, India. 

58% of bloggers started a blog because they wanted to express passionate views, while 40% of India’s bloggers did so to entertain others through their writing.

A majority, 47% of blog owners indicated that writing about their views and commenting on the world around them was what they enjoyed the most about the activity. 

Respondents indicated that a good blog should, firstly, be updated regularly and secondly be well written with eye catching pictures. Most bloggers started their blog to either share a diary and photos with loved ones or because a family or friend had one. 

Almost 90% of bloggers spend up to 5 hours per week reading blogs or updating their own blogs.