In 2006, 28% of online teens in the United States wrote a blog or online journal.  According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life project, the number of teens in the United States who blog now is just 14%

That’s a 50% drop.  Where did they go and what are the doing now?

Social networking is the cool thing today.  While just 8% of teens surveyed in the study claimed to use Twitter, a full 73% of online teens cited that they use social networking sites, particularly Facebook.

Even cell phone usage has dropped among U.S. teens who turn to mobile devices for texting and other short form communications instead.

While Pew’s research indicates that blogging has dropped in popularity since 2005 among the 18-29 year old audience, it has gone up among the 30 and older audience, which supports Pew’s findings that teens and younger audiences are typically early adopters of technology (such as blogging and text messaging) while older audiences take a longer time to try the same new technology.

Every generation has its fads and trends that they embrace and are remembered for.  Will the current generation of teens be remembered as the Facebook generation or will they move onto the next cool tool or trend just as the thirtysomething (and older) crowds are getting on board with those same tools and trends (and thus, making those tools and trends uncool by association)?

You can get more information about the Pew study here.

Image: Flickr

The 2010 SIIA Information Industry Summit was held in January and brought together a variety of digital content industry professionals and experts.  The SIIA captured video interviews with several content industry thought leaders asking them to provide their insights on the future of the content industry.

You can view Newstex President Larry Schwartz’s thoughts on the subject in the video below, and follow the links at the end of this post to view more video insights.

More content industry future insights from:

• Henry Blodget, The Business Insider
• John Blossom, Shore Communications, Inc.
• Ken Doctor, Author, Newsonomics
• Barry Graubart, Alacra
• Daniel Mayer, TEMIS
• Robin Neidorf, Freepint Limited
• Jan Palmen, Innodata Isogen
• Deva Senapathy, Infosys Technologies Limited
• Webb Shaw, J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc.
• Anthea Stratigos, Outsell, Inc.
• Matt Turner, Mark Logic Corporation

Elections are now open for the 2010 Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Content Division Board, a volunteer group of industry executives that works closely with the division’s leadership to direct our activities and initiatives. The members of the SIIA Content Division Board perform a variety of functions, including:

* Helping to decide which industry issues the Content Division focuses on
* Leveraging SIIA to build relationships with industry leaders
* Ensuring that elected members’ companies maximize their SIIA memberships>

SIIA Content Division Board Requirements: Any SIIA member executive who can commit time, energy and passion for a two-year term is encouraged to run. Board members must attend board meetings and are encouraged to serve on working groups and ad hoc committees. In general, the Board holds four meetings per year, although the Chair may call additional meetings as the business of the Board dictates. Board members must participate in at least three of the four meetings, and attend at least two meetings in person.

All nominations must be received by Tuesday, February 23. You can get more details on the SIIA Web site.

The first meeting for new Board members will be held on the morning of Wednesday, May 26, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA, immediately following the SIIA’s next conference, SIIA NetGain.

You can follow the link to view the list of current SIIA Content Division Board members.

The January 2010 Blogger in the Spotlight is Sheila Scarborough who writes the Family Travel Logue blog for the BootxnAll Travel Network.

Blogger in the Spotlight is a monthly series where Newstex turns the spotlight on our publishers with in-depth interviews that give you a glimpse into the stories, tips and secrets of successful bloggers and content producers.

This month’s interview is with Sheila Scarborough who is a writer and speaker specializing in travel, tourism, the social Web and NHRA drag racing. She is the co-founder of Tourism Currents, an online learning community site that teaches tourism professionals how to use social media in their destination marketing.  She’s been blogging since February 2006 and can be found blogging for the BootsnAll Family Travel Guide and Tourism Currents as well as on her personal blog, Sheila’s Guide,  where she writes about tourism, tech and social media.

Newstex: How did you get started writing your current blog?

Sheila Scarborough: I retired from the US Navy in early 2006 after 22+ years, and launched a new career as a travel writer.  A long-time friend and journalist told me, “If you’re going to be a writer, you need to have a blog.”  Knowing that a general travel blog would probably just get buried in the online noise, I chose to focus on the family travel niche since I have two kids. The BootsnAll Travel Network offers free blogs for travelers, so I started mine there to have a built-in audience.

Newstex: What makes your blog unique?

Sheila Scarborough: My blog is based on my own travel experiences with my family, so I don’t do that many product/site/service reviews or travel news posts.  As my kids have gotten older, I find that I do a lot of posts featuring ideas and places that are good for preteens or teens.  There are other blogs that do a better job of covering travel with babies and toddlers, although I do occasionally still write about that because I haven’t forgotten how to wrestle with a diaper in a strange place!

Newstex: To what do you attribute your blog’s success?

Sheila Scarborough: Persistence and useful information.  When I left the Navy, I didn’t know any travel bloggers and had no idea what I was doing, but I hung in there, built a network, responded to my readers and their comments, and met other bloggers in person at tech conferences.  BootsnAll has also been very supportive over the years with design changes and support.

Newstex: What are the top 3 tips you can give to bloggers looking to develop successful blogs?

Sheila Scarborough: One.  Decide ahead of time what your blog is about; don’t wander in saying, “I’ll write about anything on my mind.”  I mean, sure, you can do that, but no one but your Mom will read it.  Focus, focus, then keep that focus over the long haul.  If you find yourself talking about your gardening a lot on your business blog, then start another blog just for the gardening. People come to your blog expecting certain types of content; they’ll certainly forgive occasional wanderings but will dump you if you can’t keep focus.

Two:  Do your homework and learn your craft – there are a ton of blogs out there to help you, so read them. Go to a couple of blogging conferences or workshops. Read great stuff on sites like Copyblogger.com and ProBlogger.net, then try some of the recommendations.  Put in the effort over an extended period of time (at least six months.)  Don’t start whining at Week 3 that no one’s reading your blog, and then quit.

Three:  Grow your blog OFF your blog.  Solid, useful content published regularly is a given. If you can’t do that, forget it.  If you can do that, then do it, but remember that people also have to be able to FIND your content.  Make it easier by doing a little self-promotion and marketing: put your blog URL on your business cards and in your email signature.  Make sure it’s in your Twitter profile, LinkedIn profile, Facebook profile, YouTube channel, Flickr photo-sharing account, etc. Let people know about some of your best posts (if you squawk about every one, you’ll just be annoying.)  Learn about SEO (search engine optimization) so that you can craft content with the keywords that people use to search for information on that topic.  Link freely to other great content, and say “thanks” when possible to those who link to you.

Newstex: What is the best thing that has happened to you as a result of your work on your blog?

Sheila Scarborough: I’ve become a geek in time for the next iteration of the Internet Age.  When I started blogging in February 2006, I thought I was late to the online party, but now I see that my timing was just right.

Newstex: What inspires you to keep blogging?

Sheila Scarborough: Nowhere else can I have such complete control over my content and how it is presented.  My kids are getting older so finding good family travel blog post angles is getting more challenging, but I write for another (multi-author) travel blog plus have a new blog and business tied to social media and tourism, so I’m never lacking for creative outlets.  If a subject doesn’t fit any of my own blogs, I try guest posting on someone else’s blog where the subject would make sense for its readership.

Newstex: What are your favorite blogs and why?

Sheila Scarborough:

• Parenting blogs The Pioneer Woman and dooce.com, for gorgeous design and screamingly funny writing.

• Nerd’s Eye View (by Pam Mandel) for beautiful photography and terrific yet very conversational travel writing.

• ChrisBrogan.com and Liz Strauss’ Successful Blog, for thoughtful analysis and communications ideas in the digital space.

• My business partner Becky McCray’s Small Biz Survival for super-useful business ideas and insights.

• Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist for scathingly honest posts about business, entrepreneurship and life.

• Mashable for the best, most useful and current information on social media

Newstex: What effects do you think blogging will have on traditional media?  How about on your industry?

Sheila Scarborough:

Sheila Scarborough: I syndicated a few years ago as another way to promote my blog OFF of my blog, as I described above.  Newstex seemed to target some researchers and information professionals who might not otherwise discover online content without a little focused assistance.

Newstex: What do you think are the benefits of syndicating your blog through Newstex?

Sheila Scarborough: Beyond increased readership, I do like the fact that I am paid by Newstex; it’s not a lot, because my blog is not highly-trafficked enough, but even the small monetary compensation for my content is appreciated.

Newstex: What’s next for you and your blog?

Sheila Scarborough: My daughter heads to college soon but my son still has more years with us, so I’ll keep writing the Family Travel Guide based on what I learn from my own experiences.  At some point I’d like to work with BootsnAll to turn the blog over to another parent, but I’ll always keep writing about travel in some way.  I like to keep moving and trying new things too much to let my passport get dusty!

Today, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announced the launch of its first mobile application for accessing social media content from SIIA and Authoritative Content from Newstex.

The application is available through the Apple iTunes Store for both iPhones and iPod touches (search for siia or newstex), and it will be available for Google Android-enabled phones in the future.

A free trial version is available, and SIIA Content Division members can request complimentary access to a limited number of licenses for premium content.

The new SIIA and Newstex iPhone app is an easy to use mobile resource that helps users access authoritative news and social media content, including blogs, Twitter and video content, at anytime.

In a press release from the SIIA, Newstex President Larry Schwartz said, “More and more people are tapping social media through applications that provide content from a handful of sources.  We believe this application creates significant marketing and revenue opportunities for publishers and aggregators, as well as associations of all types.”

You can read the complete SIIA press release here.