Indians prefer diary to blog

Indians seem rather comfortable penning their thoughts on hardbound diaries than making entries online, with only 14 per cent of all netizens found to be actively blogging, according to a study.

Of all the people who surf the Internet in India, another 39 per cent were aware of blogs, said the study Blogging India: An MSN and Windows Live Report released on Monday.

But the numbers are slowly increasing, with men dominating the Web-logs.

Three quarters (76 per cent) of bloggers in India are men, while women account for only 24 per cent.

This goes against the trend in the region, where blogging is fairly evenly matched between the sexes although in some markets such as Singapore, it was slightly more women-dominated.

India's blogosphere is also fuelled by young adults with 54 per cent of bloggers between the ages of 25-34, 32 per cent under 25 and 15 per cent over 35.

Self development and entertainment is at the heart of India's blogosphere, with a large number of online users reading blogs to stay informed about world events.

When asked which subjects they enjoyed reading the most, 32 per cent of respondents cited technology and 24 per cent news and education -- illustrating the impact of India's booming technology sector on society.

Blogs written by business leaders were found by half of all online users in India to be most enjoyable to read. Another 24 per cent of the respondents took interest in reading blogs by politicos.