Update 2: Here is our exlcusive interview with Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra from the BlogWorld Expo this past weekend:

 

 

 

Update: The State of the Blogosphere report is now availalbe here.

Original Article: Technorati's 2009 State of the Blogosphere report is due to come out Monday, but attendees at the BlogWorld Expo (including WebProNews) got a preview from Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra.

First and foremost, Jalichandra says the "State of the Blogosphere is strong." Some have suggested that it might be dying due to microblogging services like Twitter, but he says it's not dying or leveling off. It's thriving. "Blogs are media," he says.

The report is based on a survey of 2,900 bloggers and includes interviews with blogging pros like Steve Rubel and Arianna Huffington. Here are some key findings:

 

 

 

 

- 72% blog for hobby/fun and don't make money
- 28% are professional bloggers
- 2/3 of professional bloggers are male
- 60% are 18-44
- 40% of professional bloggers have at some point in their life worked for traditional media
- 7% are actually still employed in traditional media
- 73% of bloggers use Twitter vs 14% of general population

That last statistic is particularly interesting. Chitika just released results from a study finding that most Twitterers are looking for news.

Jalichandra says, "There's a rising profession of professional bloggers" and that traditional media has given bloggers a bad name.

"These findings prove that wrong." He says that all bloggers' number one use of Twitter is to promote their blogs. Famed blogger Robert Scoble said from the audience, that they use Twitter "to pimp their blogs." Either way, the main reasons deal with helping their blogging business.

According to Jalichandra, 24-32% of professional bloggers blog over ten hours a week, and they invest seven times more money in their blogs. The top 500 authority bloggers generate almost 300 times more posts, and the top 5,000 generate 100 times more.

63% of bloggers in general say that they have become more involved with what they are passionate about as result of blogs and only 6% say relationships with friends or family are suffering.

Pros monetize their blogs via:

- display ads - 40% (up from 28% last year)
- Search ads - 39%
- Affiliate links - 36%
- Paid postings - 8%

According to the report, self-employed bloggers are most likely to sell their inventory through a blog ad network and use affiliate links. 70% of all bloggers blog about brands.

Technorati itself just launched a big redesign. You can read more about here.

WebProNews reporter Abby Johnson contributed to this report from BlogWorld.