The other day, I was at a meeting when it suddenly occurred to me that 5 of the 8 people at the table were bloggers. This occurred just after I noticed that CNN was running a major portion of its site covering the US election on a WordPress blogging platform. Later, a friend of mine claimed she never reads blogs, then proceeded to read political news from a number of blogs (although not realizing they are blogs). Another friend said that when her Girl Scouts’ site was called a “blog,” parents wouldn’t go there, but when they went to the “site,” it was given rave reviews (it was still the blog, of course). Then, a few days later, Technorati’s “State of the Blogosphere” crossed my inbox.

It became clear: Blogs have gone mainstream.

The Technorati report on the blogosphere was released over 5 consecutive days, with each day covering a different aspect (who blogs, why they blog, how they blog, making money, and using brands). The report is very well-done and informative. Some interesting findings:

• Most bloggers are over 35 years old, except in Asia.
• Most bloggers have been blogging for nearly 3 years.
• Bloggers on average look at four success metrics, including personal satisfaction, comments on their posts, visitors to the blog, and links from other sites.
• 78% of bloggers manage their blogs alone.
• 54% of bloggers make money on their blogs, but the median amount is $200 (mean, $5,000).
• 37% of bloggers have been quoted in the mainstream media.
• Bloggers spend more time online, but less time watching television, than average.

Most importantly, 71% believe that blogs are being taken more seriously as information sources, and half believe blogs will be primary information sources in the near future.

I tend to agree. There are too many advantages, too many experts have been unearthed, the network effect is escalating, and the audience has arrived.

It sounds mainstream to me. After all, you’re reading one right now.