With the rise of Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, it might be tempting to rethink the time, energy and resources you devote to your corporate blog. But according to a new study by eMarketer, you would be making a mistake to do so:

eMarketer estimates that this year more than half of internet users will read blogs at least monthly. By 2014, readership will rise to more than 150 million Americans, or 60% of the internet population in the US. One reason for the rise in readership is that blogs have become an accepted part of the online media landscape.

Since when did blogs enter the mainstream? Since it became clear that alternate forms of communication simply don’t provide the potential depth or breadth available in the blog form. But while more than half of people who are online read blogs, less than 12 percent actually write them, according to eMarketer.

Despite the fact that personal blogging platforms have gotten insanely simple to use, eMarketer says that blog writing will remain a niche activity and is only expected to grow 1.3 percent in the next three years. That said, however, the blog form will continue to be an important online communications platform, as media continue to evolve and printed media recedes.

The interesting point made by eMarketer, however, is that as it becomes more widely used and more familiar, the blog will lose some of its luster as the primary way people express themselves online. Facebook and Twitter already are providing an easier, quicker, though shallower, way to express oneself online.

But remember, 38 percent of blog readers are not blog writers, so the form doesn’t appear to be disappearing any time soon.