Blogging has really caught on in France. To put these figures into perspective, more than half the French population is online. So if 12% of them have created a blog, that means that 6% of the French population have created a blog! And nearly double the proportion of Internet users visited blogs in France vs the US (60% visited in France, vs 40% in the UK and just over one third in the US).

There are differences beyond the statistics too, in the flavour of French blogging. According to the NYT: “They are noticeably longer, more critical, more negative, more egocentric and more provocative than their United States counterparts… Bloggers in the United States listen to each other and incorporate rival ideas in the discussion, French bloggers never compromise their opinions.” I can’t judge for myself as I don’t read French, but this doesn’t surprise me.

Image from Flickr CC www.flickr.com/photos/hughes_leglise/121136022/ thanks to hughes_leglise. Quote from Benjamin Griveaux, director of Web strategy for former Finance minister, reported in www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/world/europe/30blogs.html?ex=1… The 12% figure is from Comscore (June 2006) ; the other is from Médiamétrie (May 2006).

[via]: Lynette Web photoblog