In the week ending 26 August, nearly one in every 200 UK internet visits went to a website in the Hitwise lifestyle - blogs and personal websites category, proof of the increasing dominance of user generated content in the UK. It is important to note that Hitwise is tracking visits to blog websites and not blog readers, such as RSS and ATOM feeds.
The most popular blog sites overall are those that allow consumers to create and read personal blogs, such as Windows Live Spaces (spaces.live.com) and MySpace Blog (blog.myspace.com), followed by blogs for the BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/blogs) and The Guardian (blogs.guardian.co.uk and commentisfree.guardian.co.uk).
However, two of the most popular blogs created by individuals are those of political blogger Guido Fawkes (5thnovember.blogspot.com) and Girl With a One-Track Mind (girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com).
Girl with a One-Track Mind author Zoe Margolis, who has been writing her blog under the pseudonym Abby Lee, was recently unmasked after several of her posts appeared in The Sunday Times.
The media frenzy surrounding her revealed identity and the blog's erotic content led to an eight-fold increase in site visits in the last month.
The blog rocketed from a ranking of 133 in the Hitwise lifestyle - blogs and personal websites category at the beginning of August to 17 in the week to 19 August.
- Heather Hopkins, VP of research at Hitwise UK.
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