Consumer Psyche

Like most of the fads, blogging is losing popularity especially by teenagers and young adults who have dropped by half over the past three years as texting and social networking are picking up. A study released by the Pew Internet and American Life project also found that fewer than one in 10 teens were using Twitter, a surprising finding given overall popularity of the micro-blogging site.

According to the report, only 14 percent of teenagers who use the Internet say they kept an online journal or blog, compared with a peak of 28 percent in 2006 -- and only 8 percent were using Twitter.

According to the study, 73 percent of teens who were online used social networking sites. Much of the communication between young people now takes place on mobile devices, which don't lend themselves to long-form writing.

Teens may be shying away from Twitter because they see it as designed for celebrities, and because of reluctance to put their thoughts on such a public forum when they can post them to their Facebook page instead. Blogging among adults has held steady since 2005, Pew found, but it has dropped among Internet users between the age of 18 and 29 -- while rising in those over 30. "Older people are becoming more comfortable with the online environment and young people in the meantime have moved on to social networking and text messaging," Smith said.