An exploration of the relationships between blogging practices, blogging motives and identity exploration

This study explored psychological aspects of the Internet practice of blogging, including blogging practices, blogging motives and engagement in identity exploration in emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood is a theory of human development that proposes a new life stage between adolescence and adulthood stemming from recent societal changes (Arnett, 2000). Specifically, the study predicted that a relationship would exist between blogging motives, identity exploration, identification with themes of emerging adulthood and age. Participants were 182 bloggers aged between 18 and 57 years who maintain an English language lifestyle blog. They completed an online questionnaire comprising measures of identification with the themes of emerging adulthood, blogging practices, motives for blogging, and identity exploration through blogging. Results highlighted the personal nature of blogging and the strong link between the blog and "real life". The most popular motives for blogging were Self-Expression and Social Interaction, and results indicated that many bloggers do not believe they are engaging in identity exploration. There was a weak relationship between developmental life stage and blogging motives and identity exploration. Implications for future research are discussed