In their 2010 State of the Media report, Pew used Nielsen's database of 4,600 news and information websites to analyze web media usage patterns. Among their findings:
Two political sites, Daily Kos and Drudge Report, stand out with vastly higher numbers than the average site. Daily Kos averages 48 minutes per person per month and the Drudge Report nearly an hour, five times the average news site Given that minutes per person per month is partly a function of audience size, it is even clearer that these sites have a loyal audience. Neither site is in the top 30 in terms of audience, but in terms of time spent on the site per month they are No. 1 and No. 2.
Note that the average time spent on the average news and information site is 12:30. Furthermore, except for Drudge and this site, no other site averages more than 25 minutes per user per month. In other words, the Drudge and Daily Kos audiences aren't just numbers one and two, but number three lags far behind.
Twitter may be the ultimate Drudge killer, but he's hanging on thus far. People clearly visit Drudge daily, and I know people who leave Drudge open on a browser window, happy that the auto-refresh will quickly display any late breaking news.
Daily Kos is different, as we are a community site. What time you guys spend on here isn't because you're reading news stories and headlines, but because you are interacting with each other -- debating, socializing, flaming, organizing, and informing. So given the Pew/Nielsen analysis, we can objectively claim the most loyal and active community in the entire news and information internet.
That's quite amazing, and a testament to what we have all collectively built here. Kudos to all, with a sincere thanks from me and the rest of the Daily Kos team.