Global Voices Author Demographics 2010 · Global Voices
Lokman Tsui

Who are Global Voices Authors, what is their background, and what do they think about the future of Global Voices, journalism and citizen media? In a series of posts, we are sharing results from the Global Voices Author Survey in 2010. 116 Authors answered the anonymous survey in April. 87% of the respondents identified themselves as active Authors (at least one post in the last three months) the other 13% indicated they were currently inactive.
This post gives an insight into the basic demographics of Global Voices. It shouldn't come as a surprise that we are a very diverse and global group of people. Exactly how diverse? Read on.
Age
The majority of the Global Voices community is between 25-44 years old (75%). More than 50% is between 25-34 years old, over 25% is between 34-55. Younger people between 19-24 make up almost 15%, whereas almost 10% is 45 years or older.
Gender
Global Voices is very equal when it comes to the gender breakdown, which was pretty much 50/50.
Occupation
Authors volunteer valuable time to write for Global Voices. Many write for Global Voices alongside full-time jobs (40%). About 30% are freelance or self-employed, and another 15% identified themselves as students. A smaller group is part-time employed (10%) or unemployed/retired (5%).
Marital Status
Just over half of Global Voices authors are single (more than 50%). Nearly half (45%) are married or have partners. And a minority (5%) are divorced.
Education
The Global Voices community is highly educated. Over 85% of respondents indicated they have completed a university degree, and more than 40% have a post-graduate or doctoral degree. Some report their highest level of education as a few years at a university or college (15%).
Origin
The survey respondents were born in 65 different countries, and spread out over various regions.
The Global Voices community are diverse and cosmopolitan. Almost 20% have at least one parent born in a different country than they were born in, and 13% said they hold citizenship to more than one country. Almost 30% of respondents, are currently living in a country different than the one where s/he was born.
Location
The Authors surveyed are currently based in 58 different countries, spread out over various continents.
About half of respondents indicated they have only lived in one country, with the other half having lived in multiple countries. On average, respondents have lived in at least two countries, with some who have lived in as much as six, seven or even eight different countries.
Language
Authors in the Global Voices community speak on average three languages. Most people (70%) were not raised in English. Most people speak a different language than English often or very often (83%), some speak another language sometimes (7%), and others rarely or never (10%).
Computer
And finally, what every true geek wants to know: Global Voices Authors prefer PCs (41%) slightly over Macs (35%), with some opting for Linux/Unix (10%) or another operating system (3%).
A few have no particular preference (11%).