<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>While early blogging research focused on top-ranked blogs commenting on public events, recent research confirms that most blogs today concern the personal life of the blogger. The present article focuses on a particular case of blogs that falls in between these categories. In Sweden, personal blogs written by young women have dominated the ranking lists of the most popular blogs during recent years. This new phenomenon is approached through an analysis of the characteristics and content of 20 top-ranked blogs authored by young women. Through their popularity, these bloggers have come to introduce commercial and professional aspects of blogging that challenge the conventions of personal blogs. The article analyses how the bloggers negotiate these conventions in self-presentations, postings and relations to readers and how they seek to perform a self through the blog that integrates different aspects of blogging. A crucial part of this process is identification with the gender conventions of “ordinary girls”.</p></abstract>

While early blogging research focused on top-ranked blogs commenting on public events, recent research confirms that most blogs today concern the personal life of the blogger. The present article focuses on a particular case of blogs that falls in between these categories. In Sweden, personal blogs written by young women have dominated the ranking lists of the most popular blogs during recent years. This new phenomenon is approached through an analysis of the characteristics and content of 20 top-ranked blogs authored by young women. Through their popularity, these bloggers have come to introduce commercial and professional aspects of blogging that challenge the conventions of personal blogs. The article analyses how the bloggers negotiate these conventions in self-presentations, postings and relations to readers and how they seek to perform a self through the blog that integrates different aspects of blogging. A crucial part of this process is identification with the gender conventions of “ordinary girls”.

Personal and Popular

Dr Theol., Associate Professor, Faculty of Theology, Uppsala University

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"subtitle":"The Case of Young Swedish Female Top-bloggers","article-title":"Personal and Popular"}

While early blogging research focused on top-ranked blogs commenting on public events, recent research confirms that most blogs today concern the personal life...

Personal and Popular

Published Online: Jan 30, 2017

Page range: 3 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0101

Keywords
blog, top-blogger, personal blogs, women, gender, youth

© 2011 Mia Lövheim, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Personal and Popular

Published Online: Jan 30, 2017

Page range: 3 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0101

Keywordsblog, top-blogger, personal blogs, women, gender, youth

© 2011 Mia Lövheim, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
blog, top-blogger, personal blogs, women, gender, youth