E-marketer reports:

"A new poll conducted by CNN, USA Today and Gallup uncovers some surprising data about blog readership in the US.

Few US adults are aware of blogs ? just 7% say they are "very familiar" with them, compared to 56% who say they are "not at all familiar." Similarly, few read blogs regularly. In all age groups, most people say they never read blogs, although readership is higher among younger people."

Surprising data? Not really ...

Why do we suppose that most actually care they're reading a "blog"? Such distinctions might be important in internet publishing circles, but not really for most internet users, who just want to get the information they're after. To them it doesn't matter whether it's a "blog" or a "portal" or a "news site" or whatever ...

In a way, "blog" is just a term. I'm suspecting that most people reading blogs don't actually know the term, or even care about it. Related to this discussion, can we even pinpoint what the term "blog" really means?

What matters is the information you provide and how, in terms of usability, you provide it.

RSS is no different. In time, no one will really know they're using RSS to consume internet content, as the channel will become an integrated part of the internet experience.

BTW - do visit E-marketer to get some more interesting "blog" readership stats.