For all of us who sit alone with only the glare from our computer screen keeping us company as we peck out a blog post with no idea whether any one will read it, here’s some good news.

In Shelby County, more than 118,000 people say they regularly get local news from blogs.

Keep in mind that this isn’t the number of people who say they read blogs; it’s the number who said they read them regularly for local news.

We are of course biased, but that seems pretty impressive considering that the blogosphere has really only proliferated in Memphis in recent years.

In a poll of people taken in the last few weeks in Shelby County, 13 percent of the respondents said that they regularly get their news from blogs. To put that into perspective, it was essentially the same percentage of people who say they get their news regularly from the Memphis Flyer. In fairness, however, there are of reasons to be reading the Flyer besides news, and in addition, the Flyer’s numbers are pulled down somewhat by the drop in readership outside the city limits of Memphis.

Unsurprisingly, a slightly larger percentage – 15% – of people between the ages of 18-44 say they read blogs regularly for local news.

Meanwhile, the income bracket with the largest percentage – 16% – was $15,000 – $29,000. As expected, that percentage is halved for people earning less than $15,000, but is relatively stable for people with incomes of more than $30,000 at roughly 13%.

The 13% who read blogs regularly may only account for one-third of the percentage who say they read The Commercial Appeal, but nonetheless, it is a number that puts a bit more spring into our fingers as we type this post and send it into the ether.