The number of people in the United States reading Internet ¡®blogs' rose by a hearty 58% from February to November last year, although 62% of the Internet users questioned said they did not know what a ¡®blog' is. (CRI file photo)

    BEIJING, Jan. 4 -- The number of people in the United States reading Internet blogs' rose by a hearty 58% from February to November last year, although 62% of the Internet users questioned said they did not know what a "blog" is.

    These findings from the Pew Internet and Family Life Project show that 27% of America's Internet users say they read blogs while 12 percent have posted a comment to a blog.

    "Blog" is short for "Web log." Some blogs have gained clout as a serious source of information, concepts, or ideas.

    They function as a mechanism for readers to debate current issues. Of the blog readers, approximately 9 percent or about 2.8 million people say they read political blogs "frequently" or "sometimes" during the recent American presidential campaign.

    The study expects a continued steady growth in blog reading. It finds that creators of blog are most likely to be men, broadband users, to have used the Internet for a long time and to be relatively well off and well educated.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)