The BBC quotes a recent report on the during growth of blogging in 2004. The Pew Internet and American Life Project published the survey of 1324 internet users.

Interestingly, blogs are growing much quicker as a spectator sport than as one in which people are participating. I anticipate that there may be a lag factor here, and 2005 may become the year when the voyeurs put their toes in the water in great numbers.

A critical mass of bloggers could well push blogging over the tipping-point and into the mainstream, even if only through secondary sources. For example, events like the recent tsunami were witnessed by millions of potential local correspondents around the world, all with their own stories to tell, and increasingly they will have access to digital and video cameras.

There would become a point where news organisations would have a significant motivation to look for reports and footage from the best of the bloggers, at least as a supplement to their numerous high-expense reporters and camera crews who chase around the globe in the wake of the big stories.