Another study, by Nielsen-Netratings, says that as many as 2/3 of the people identified as blog readers don't call what they're reading a blog. Some say they've never heard of blogging, or that what they're reading is not a blog.

What do they call it? That's not clear, but it does suggest the number of U.S. blog readers is even more staggering than 50 million. (I just want to stick my finger in my mouth, Dr. Evil-style, when I say "fifty million blog readers.") Buzzmetrics' Mouthpiece also takes this opportunity to suggest that "blogging" may be an industry term that never catches on with consumers, since they know what they're doing not as blogging but by another name.

To which Shakespeare might reply: does blogging by any other name still smell as sweet? To communications professionals that want to engage in the blogosphere, I'm sure it does. Though Pew says that blog readership is still a smaller audience than newspaper readership, 50 million – or more – is still an impressive number. I'll never feel like one of "a handful of people" ever again.