Why Are Blogs So Popular??

So it's not a secret now that I am not a fan of ebooks. I can't get out of my mind how bad for your eyes is staring at a screen for hours. Obviously you can't escape the computer for a ton of other fun things, but for books, you can. Anyway, when I first heard about blogs as a source of exposure for aspiring writers I again was skeptical. Who reads blogs for fiction anyway? And who actually gets a successful career from blogging beginnings? Wouldn't it be terribly easy for anyone to just steal your work right from under your nose? Apparently a zillion people read blogs, there are many people who have been catapulted to success because of their start in blogs, and I'm guessing there are ways to protect your work. Even so, this can't be a real shot at success, can it? This article I found had an interesting statistic:

The popularity of Weblog is gaining momentum. As per a survey conducted by Comscore.com,50 Million US population ( i.e- 1 in 6 of total US population or 30% of the total US online population) visited blog sites in the first quarter of 2005. This represents a 45% increase compared to the quarter one of 2004. Blog visitors are 11% more likely than the average Internet user to have incomes of $75,000 or more.

Why 11%? Do they visit blogs because they want to be intellectually stimulated and then have a higher chance of earning more money OR do they already earn more money because of their already stimulated mind so they seek out blogs for fun? I'm curious only because one doesn't increase your odds at all, the other does give you room for improvement. If I had an 11% higher chance at earning more just for reading blogs I might be persuaded to do it. However, until that's proven I think I'll stick with the books.