the blogosphere-colliding with social and mainstream media

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Executive Summary: Social networks and microblogs have in recent years nudged blogging off the social media pedestal. For some consumers, who have more communication tools at their fingertips than they did a few years ago, Facebook and Twitter have supplanted blogging as life-streaming outlets. 118542 118543 But blogs remain an important part of the landscape.This year, 51% of US internet users, or 113 million people, will read blogs on a monthly basis. By 2014, the blog audience is expected to rise to 60% of internet users, or 150 million people. The number of bloggers will also grow, though somewhat more modestly. In 2010, 11.9% of US internet users keep blogs. By 2014, there will be 33.4 million bloggers in the US, representing 13.3% of internet users.eMarketer’s estimates of bloggers are limited to people who blog; they do not include marketers or media companies with public-facing blogs. Key Questions How many US internet users are reading and writing blogs? What factors are driving shifts in the way people use blogs? What role do media and corporate blogs play in the blogosphere? How does social media usage affect blog reading and writing? The Blogosphere: Colliding with Social and Mainstream Media September 2010 Paul Verna [email protected] Report Contributor Tracy Tang Digital Intelligence Copyright ©2010 eMarketer, Inc. All rights reserved. millions and % of internet users US Blog Readers, 2008-2014 2008 91.4 (45.0%) 2009 102.6 (48.5%) 2010 112.7 (51.0%) 2011 122.6 (53.5%) 2012 133.8 (56.5%) 2013 141.6 (58.0%) 2014 150.4 (60.0%) Note: internet users who read blogs at least monthly Source: eMarketer, Aug 2010 118542 www.eMarketer.com millions and % of internet users US Bloggers, 2008-2014 2008 22.9 (11.3%) 2009 24.0 (11.3%) 2010 26.2 (11.9%) 2011 28.1 (12.3%) 2012 30.1 (12.7%) 2013 31.6 (13.0%) 2014 33.4 (13.3%) Note: internet users who update blogs at least monthly Source: eMarketer, Aug 2010 118543 www.eMarketer.com

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Social networks and microblogs have in recent years nudged blogging off the social mediapedestal. For some consumers, who have more communication tools at their fingertips than they did a few years ago,Facebook and Twitter have supplanted blogging as life-streaming outlets.

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Page 1: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

Executive Summary: Social networks and microblogs have in recent years nudged blogging off the social mediapedestal. For some consumers, who have more communication tools at their fingertips than they did a few years ago,Facebook and Twitter have supplanted blogging as life-streaming outlets.

118542118543

But blogs remain an important part of the landscape.This year,51% of US internet users, or 113 million people, will read blogson a monthly basis. By 2014, the blog audience is expected torise to 60% of internet users, or 150 million people.

The number of bloggers will also grow, though somewhat moremodestly. In 2010, 11.9% of US internet users keep blogs. By2014, there will be 33.4 million bloggers in the US, representing13.3% of internet users. eMarketer’s estimates of bloggers arelimited to people who blog; they do not include marketers ormedia companies with public-facing blogs.

Key Questions

n How many US internet users are reading and writing blogs?

n What factors are driving shifts in the way people use blogs?

nWhat role do media and corporate blogs play in the blogosphere?

n How does social media usage affect blog reading and writing?

The Blogosphere:Colliding with Social and Mainstream Media

September 2010

Paul [email protected]

Report ContributorTracy Tang

Digital Intelligence Copyright ©2010 eMarketer, Inc. All rights reserved.

millions and % of internet usersUS Blog Readers, 2008-2014

2008

91.4(45.0%)

2009

102.6(48.5%)

2010

112.7(51.0%)

2011

122.6(53.5%)

2012

133.8(56.5%)

2013

141.6(58.0%)

2014

150.4(60.0%)

Note: internet users who read blogs at least monthlySource: eMarketer, Aug 2010118542 www.eMarketer.com

millions and % of internet usersUS Bloggers, 2008-2014

2008

22.9(11.3%)

2009

24.0(11.3%)

2010

26.2(11.9%)

2011

28.1(12.3%)

2012

30.1(12.7%)

2013

31.6(13.0%)

2014

33.4(13.3%)

Note: internet users who update blogs at least monthlySource: eMarketer, Aug 2010118543 www.eMarketer.com

Page 2: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 2

The eMarketer View

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Despite the success of other social media venuessuch as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, blogreadership has increased steadily and is expectedto continue on an upward path. Just over half of USinternet users are now reading blogs at least once a month, andthis percentage will climb to 60% in the next four years.The maindrivers behind these increases are the prevalence of blogs in themainstream media, the increased use of blogs for corporatemarketing and easy-to-use personal blogging platforms.

Most news sites use reporter blogs and microsites featuring user-generated content to fill coverage voids and provide afeedback forum for readers.These tactics have moved blogs intothe foreground and raised their sphere of influence in the media.Similarly, marketers have also increased their use of blogging forfunctions such as customer service and corporatecommunications. Increasing numbers of consumers rely on theseblogs in their interactions with companies.

What Is a Blog?

eMarketer uses the following definition, adaptedfrom an entry that appears on Wikipedia.

A blog, short for “weblog,” is a website maintainedby a person, group or company with regular entriesof commentary, descriptions of events or othercontent such as photos or videos.

This includes media blogs such as The New YorkTimes’ dozens of reporter and topic blogs; corporateblogs; dedicated news blogs such as the HuffingtonPost; celebrity blogs such as TMZ and Perez Hilton;technology blogs such as TechCrunch and Mashable;and personal blogs.

The number of blog creators is also expected toclimb, though not as steeply as that of blog readers.For many people, the appeal of blogging is not as intense as it waswhen blogs were the leading form of social media.Today,peoplehave many other social tools at their disposal, and some of them aremore fun and less labor-intensive than blogs.Facebook offers mostof the capabilities of blogs;users post frequent updates that caninclude photos, videos and links.

To give an idea of how blogging stacks up against social networkusage, there will be 26 million bloggers in the US by the end of2010 compared with some 150 million Facebook users.

In addition,Twitter has taken some of the momentum fromblogging with its ability to reach a wide universe of followers inreal time with text bursts, photos and links to other media.Andplatforms such as Flickr and YouTube have enabled photo andvideo sharing on a massive scale, trumping the need for usingblogs for those purposes.

Nevertheless, overall blogging rates will inch upward.The biggestfactors driving the increase are the ease of use of bloggingplatforms and the growing comfort level with blog reading amongUS internet users. Blogs with broad reach—whether media blogs,corporate blogs or influential technology or celebrity blogs—arecreating a culture in which blogging is accepted as an integral partof the media landscape.This encourages users with something tosay to take to the blogosphere.

The relationship between blogging and the rest ofthe social web is complex—and often symbiotic.With so many means of expression at their disposal, usersgravitate toward the ones that suit their needs. In some cases, aFacebook page might replace a blog. In other cases, Facebook orTwitter might serve as a marketing vehicle, essentially drivingtraffic via short teasers to longer content on the blog.

Social media users are more likely than average adults users touse blogs overall, and specifically as a tool to start an onlinesearch for a product or service, according to the Retail Advertising& Marketing Association.

Key eMarketer Numbers: Blogging

150.4 million US blog readers* in 2014, up from 112.7 millionin 2010

60.0% US blog readers* % of internet users in 2014,up from 51.0% in 2010

33.4 million US bloggers** in 2014, up from 26.2 millionin 2010

13.0% US bloggers** % of internet users in 2014, upfrom 11.3% in 2009

Note: *internet users who read blogs at least monthly; **internet userswho update a blog at least monthlySource: eMarketer, Aug 2010

Page 3: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 3

Blog Readers

eMarketer estimates that in 2010 more than half

of US internet users will read blogs at least once a

month.This equates to nearly 113 million people.

By 2014, 60% of the US internet population, or just

over 150 million users, will read blogs.

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A comparative estimate of 2008 and 2009 data on the blogaudience from researchers including Universal McCann,Accenture, BIGresearch and Lightspeed Research shows adisparity of findings.This is largely due to differences in surveysamples, internet access levels, frequency of use and othermethodological benchmarks.The differences are also a functionof varying perceptions of what constitutes a blog. In the absenceof a standard definition, survey participants have their own ideasabout whether the sites they visit are blogs.This makes it difficultto get a precise reading of the total size of the blogosphere.

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For additional information on this chart, see the Endnotes section.

For example, Universal McCann’s figures were limited to usersages 16 to 54 who had daily internet access.This constraint madethe percentage higher than that of Lightspeed Research, whichused a wider age sample (16- to 64-year-olds) and did not specify afrequency of internet access. Universal’s figures were also higherthan others with even less selective age samples, such asAccenture and BIGresearch, which polled adult users.

There is an additional factor behind the differing findings. Becausemany of the most widely read blogs are seamless from mainstreammedia, survey participants respond differently depending on theirown perceptions, as well as the wording of the surveys. Surveys thatask generally whether people read blogs are likely to elicit higherresponse rates than those that pinpoint certain types of blogs, suchas asking if the participant has read “someone else’s blog.”

In addition, a reader who stumbles across a New York Times blogwhile perusing the newspaper’s website might not be aware ofhaving read a blog. Similarly, someone who follows political newson the Huffington Post or celebrity news on TMZ.com might notthink of those sites as blogs.The disparate survey results reflectthese ambiguities. Given the lack of standards in how blogs aredefined and perceived, it is not surprising that the percentageswere roughly between 45% and 65%.

eMarketer’s estimates assume monthly visits to any type of blogwithin our broad definition.That includes media blogs, corporateblogs, dedicated news blogs, technology blogs and the thousandsof long-tail personal blogs.

For more on business blogging, see eMarketer’s upcomingreport “Corporate Blogging: Media and Marketing FirmsDrive Growth,” due to publish in October 2010.

Trends in blog reading are expected to maintain an upward courseas blogs continue to gain influence in the mainstream media. Butthere is a caveat to eMarketer’s forecast: Over time, blogs willcontinue to become indistinguishable from other media channels.

For example,The New York Times operates at least 50 public-facingblogs,which are indexed under such headings as “News and Politics,”“Business and Finance,”“Technology”and “Sports.”These blogs areintertwined with the paper’s regular coverage.Readers are routinelyredirected from the main site to the blogs and back again.There is anear total fluidity between the traditional coverage and the blog posts.

As this morphing of blogs and media sites continues to unfold, it willcomplicate the task of forecasting blog reading as its own categoryof online activity.The most likely effect of this trend will be that surveyrespondents will focus on standalone blogs and not necessarilyconsider blogs that are interspersed into broader media venues.Oneway around this conundrum will be for survey designers to askdetailed questions that take into account the different types of blogs.This is true for both blog-reading and blog-writing surveys.

millions and % of internet usersUS Blog Readers, 2008-2014

2008

91.4(45.0%)

2009

102.6(48.5%)

2010

112.7(51.0%)

2011

122.6(53.5%)

2012

133.8(56.5%)

2013

141.6(58.0%)

2014

150.4(60.0%)

Note: internet users who read blogs at least monthlySource: eMarketer, Aug 2010118542 www.eMarketer.com

% of internet usersComparative Estimate: US Blog Readers, 2008-2010

Universal McCann*, July 2009

Accenture**, Jan 2010

eMarketer, Aug 2010

Retail Advertising & Marketing Association(RAMA)**, Sep 2009

Lightspeed Research***, May 2009

2008

61.0%

33.0%

45.0%

-

-

2009

66.0%

60.0%

48.5%

46.1%

46.0%

2010

-

-

51.0%

-

-

Note: *ages 16-54 with daily or every other day internet access; **ages18+; ***ages 16-64; data is for JanSource: eMarketer, Aug 2010118545 www.eMarketer.com

Page 4: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 4

Blog Writers

eMarketer estimates that there will be 26.2

million bloggers in the US by the end of 2010, or

11.9% of internet users.

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On a comparative basis, eMarketer’s estimates are in line with2009 data from Trendstream/Lightspeed Research, BIGresearch,Boston Consulting Group and Pew, all of which estimated bloggingrates ranging from 11% to 13%.

A Universal McCann study found US blogging rates at a far higher33%, but the survey was limited to respondents ages 16 to 54 withdaily or every-other-day internet access.

Another study by Accenture noted that 39% of US adult internetusers wrote blogs or contributed to online references such asWikipedia in 2009, up more than 100% over the previous year.Thisnumber would translate to more than 85 million people in the USalone—a high number even considering that contributions toonline encyclopedias were lumped in with blogging. For thatreason, this number is considered an outlier.

Considering the wide discrepancies among surveys of blogreading rates, why is there relative convergence among bloggernumbers? The reason is that blog writing is an active andunambiguous pursuit.A survey participant who is asked whetherhe or she writes a blog is not likely to be confused by the question.

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For additional information on this chart, see the Endnotes section.

millions and % of internet usersUS Bloggers, 2008-2014

2008

22.9(11.3%)

2009

24.0(11.3%)

2010

26.2(11.9%)

2011

28.1(12.3%)

2012

30.1(12.7%)

2013

31.6(13.0%)

2014

33.4(13.3%)

Note: internet users who update blogs at least monthlySource: eMarketer, Aug 2010118543 www.eMarketer.com

% of internet usersComparative Estimate: US Bloggers, 2008-2010

Accenture, Jan 2010 (1)

Universal McCann, July 2009 (2)

Retail Advertising & MarketingAssociation (RAMA), Sep 2009 (3)

Trendstream and Lightspeed Research,Nov 2009 (4)

eMarketer, Aug 2010

Pew, Oct 2009 (5)

Boston Consulting Group, May 2010

PostRelease, Jan 2010 (6)

2008

18.0%

26.0%

-

-

11.3%

11.0%

-

-

2009

39.0%

33.0%

13.0%

12.8%

11.3%

11.0%

11.0%

5.7%

2010

-

-

-

-

11.9%

-

-

-

Note: (1) ages 18+; includes contributing to online references such asWikipedia; (2) ages 16-54 with daily or every other day internet access; (3)ages 18+, maintain own blog; (4) ages 16-64; write own blog; data is forJune; (5) ages 18+; ever create/work on own online journal/blog; (6) ages18+; publish a blogSource: eMarketer, Aug 2010; various, as noted, 2009 & 2010118546 www.eMarketer.com

Page 5: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 5

Factors Driving Growth

eMarketer’s more modest growth forecast for blogging takes intoconsideration several factors that affect blog creation bothfavorably and unfavorably.

The key drivers behind the growth in US personal blogging ratesare the ease of use of personal blogging platforms and thegrowing comfort level with blogs as a form of media.

There are plenty of hosting options from a variety of providers,such as free, do-it-yourself services for hobbyists and robust,enterprise solutions designed to scale with the integrated digitalmedia output needs of large companies.These include bloggingpioneers such as Six Apart, newer but firmly established playerssuch as Automattic (parent company of WordPress.com), andportals such as Google, Microsoft and MySpace.

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These off-the-shelf tools allow personal bloggers to quickly andeasily build their sites from scratch.The cost and ease-of-usebarriers to entry have become negligible.

Twitter is also a force in this industry, even though it does not offer aconventional blogging platform.The company’s microbloggingservice is both beneficial and detrimental to blogging. Some formerbloggers now rely on Twitter as their main conduit of expression,but many use Twitter as a marketing vehicle for their blogs.

At the same time, the growing use of blogging by mediaorganizations and marketers has raised the comfort level withblogs as a news source, as a means of interacting with companies,and as a forum for customer reviews and opinions.These trendshave empowered people to use the blogosphere to reach thewidest possible audience.

In “Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2009,”author MattSussman writes: “While blog postings often focus on the localissues of the specific blogger, the audience of such blogs is muchless limited than other forms of media have been historically.Aninternet-connected world has expanded the marketplace of ideasavailable to any individual anywhere.”

Factors Limiting Growth

At the other end of the spectrum, many internet users who onceblogged are shifting to other social media channels.The top threereasons people blog, according to a BlogHer-iVillage study, are forself-expression, for fun and to connect with others.Thoseactivities are increasingly carried out on Facebook,Twitter andother social venues, making blogs less essential to a person’sonline presence.

114283

Further, the Technorati Blogosphere report found that 26% ofbloggers who use Twitter said the microblogging service hadcaused them to reduce the amount of time they spent on theirtraditional blogs. Users often employ Twitter as a teaser to drivetraffic to their blogs. But at the same time,Twitter can circumvent ablog, particularly in situations where the user just wants to write ashort comment with a link to an outside source. Similarly, manyMySpace and Facebook users avail themselves of those networks’blogging services and blog-like features.

Adding to these trends, Cox Communications and Pew Internet &American Life Project noted a significant decrease in the numberof teens who kept their own blogs.

Profile of Select Blog-Hosting Services, 2010

BloggerBloglinesBlogs.com

Fotolog

Friendster

LiveJournal

Movable Type

MySpace

TwitterTypePadVox

Windows LiveSpacesWordPress

Xanga

Parent company

Google

IAC/Interactive Corp.

Six Apart

Fotolog

Friendster

SUP

Six Apart

Fox Interactive Media

Twitter

Six Apart

Six Apart

Microsoft

Automattic

Xanga

Pricing

Free

Free

FreeFree; "Gold Camera" membershipstarts at $2.75 for 3 weeks

Free

Free and paid plans startingat $3 per month

Free and paid plans ranging from$395.95 per year (5 authors) to$995.95 per year (20 authors)

Free

Free

$8.95-$29.95 per monthFree

Free

Free and paid plans(custom pricing)

Free and paid plans rangingfrom $25-$45 per year

Source: company reports, 2010119124 www.eMarketer.com

% of respondentsReasons that US Bloggers* Write Blogs, March 2010

Express myself 81.6%

For fun 80.6%

Connect with others like me 75.4%

Create personal record 68.2%

Give advice 50.9%

Earn money 31.6%

Persuade others20.2%

Note: n=912; *BlogHer site users onlySource: BlogHer and iVillage, "2010 Social Media Matters Study"co-sponsored by Ketchum and The Nielsen Company, April 15, 2010114283 www.eMarketer.com

Page 6: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 6

In the Cox Communications study—a joint project with theNational Center for Missing and Exploited Children—19% of USteen internet users reported blogging in 2010, down from 37% in2006. Instant messaging also showed a decrease, but thepercentage with social networking profiles was up significantly.

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Pew reported that 14% of US internet users ages 12 to 17 bloggedin 2009, compared with 28% in 2006.The same study also notedthat fewer teens posted comments to their friends’ blogs in 2009compared with previous years.

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Among 18- to 29-year-olds, the drop was only slightly lesspronounced, with 15% reporting blogging in 2009, compared with24% in 2007.These findings were somewhat mitigated by anincrease in the number of bloggers ages 30 and up. However, teenand young adult usage is a strong indicator of future trends, so thebalance of Pew’s data points to waning interest in blogging.

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% of respondents

Communication/Entertainment Activities of US TeenInternet Users, 2006 & 2010

Have personal e-mail address95%

93%

Have instant message screen name84%

63%

Have mobile phone63%

84%

Have social networking profile61%

84%

Have blog37%

19%

Have game system33%

45%

2006 2010

Note: 2010 n=1,032 ages 13-17Source: Cox Communications and the National Center for Missing &Exploited Children (NCMEC), "Teen Online Safety & Digital ReputationSurvey," June 14, 2010116586 www.eMarketer.com

% of respondents in each groupUS Internet Users Who Blog, by Age, 2007 & 2009

18-2924%

15%

30+7%

11%

2007 2009

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Social Media and MobileInternet Use Among Teens andYoung Adults," February 3, 2010111284 www.eMarketer.com

% of respondentsUS Teen Internet Users Who Blog, 2006 & 2009

2006 28%

2009 14%

Note: ages 12-17Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Social Media and MobileInternet Use Among Teens andYoung Adults," February 3, 2010111283 www.eMarketer.com

Page 7: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 7

Blogging and the Social Web

In the early days of the medium, a blog was the

only available outlet for people or companies that

wanted to establish a feedback loop with their

target audiences.Today, blogging is one of a

variety of options businesses use to communicate

with customers, including social networking,

microblogging, photo- and video-sharing, and

customer reviews.

This expanded universe of options has encroached on personalblogging.A study by USC Annenberg showed that 16% of socialmedia users relied on personal blogs in 2009, compared with 18%in 2007. By contrast, the percentage of social media users who keptprofiles on Facebook more than doubled to 86% in 2009, from 41%in 2007.This trend illustrates Facebook’s rise and self-sufficiency asa blog-like platform.

115446

But the relationship between blogging and other social media canalso be symbiotic.The Retail Advertising and MarketingAssociation (RAMA) noted that over 18% of adult social mediausers reported using blogs, compared with 12% of average adults.Although the survey did not specify whether respondents wereasked about reading, writing or commenting on blogs, theunderlying message is that social media users are more engagedin a host of digital activities that include blogging.

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In a similar finding, the RAMA noted that 12% of social media users were influenced by blogs to start an online search for aproduct or service in 2009.Among average adults, the responserate was only 8%.

% of respondents

Social Media Sites Used by US Social Media Users toKeep a Personal Blog or Profile, 2007-2009

MySpace70%

69%

46%

Facebook41%

56%

86%

Personal blog18%

17%

16%

hi52%

0%

1%

Other23%

16%

12%

2007 2008 2009

Note: for self-publication, social networking or other purposesSource: USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, "The DigitalFuture Project-Year Nine" as cited in press release, April 26, 2010115446 www.eMarketer.com

% of respondents

New Media and Technologies Used by US SocialMedia Users vs. Average Adults, December 2009

Social mediausers

Averageadults

Mobile phone 74.9% 63.0%

Text messaging on mobile phone 51.9% 32.1%

TiVo/replay TV/DVR 33.8% 28.5%

Instant messaging online 31.2% 21.2%

iPod/MP3 player 29.5% 20.8%

Video gaming 26.8% 19.8%

Take picture/video on mobile phone 25.0% 16.1%

Watch video/TV online 23.2% 15.5%

Blogs 18.5% 12.3%

Satellite radio (XM-Sirius) 13.3% 11.8%

iPhone 12.4% 8.5%

Web radio 11.7% 8.4%

PDA 11.6% 8.4%

Watch video/TV on mobile phone 8.2% 5.2%

Note: ages 18+Source: Retail Advertising & Marketing Association (RAMA), "Social Media:An Inside Look at the People Who Use It" conducted by BIGresearch, March3, 2010112437 www.eMarketer.com

Page 8: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 8

Further, a study by BlogHer and iVillage found that active socialmedia users read, wrote and commented on blogs at rates farbeyond average internet users.The study defined social mediaactivity as using the BlogHer site, so the survey responsesunderstandably reflected a predilection for blogging activity.Nevertheless, the study illustrates a strong connection betweenblogging and other forms of social media.

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Blogging platform Typepad estimated that adding a Facebook“like” widget to a blog sidebar resulted in a 50% increase in trafficfrom Facebook to that blog.This was based on a test conducted inthe spring of 2010 with 1,500 Typepad blogs. Similarly, adding theFacebook widget to blog post footers resulted in a 200% trafficincrease for 2,400 Typepad blogs tested.The Typepad reportnoted: “There’s no denying that readership on Facebook can havea powerful impact on a blog’s traffic with the right tools.”

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net, a leading proponent of usingsocial media to promote blogs, advocated using the blog as“home base” and social media sites as “outposts.”

In September 2009, Rowse posted a video on ProBlogger.net thatdescribed his approach, which he said was inspired by fellowblogger Chris Brogan. “The idea is you build a home base for whatyou do, and your home base is something you have completecontrol over,” said Rowse. “Around the home base I interact in avariety of other places… The activities that I’m doing on theoutposts are quite similar to what I do on the home base butthey’re there to reinforce and build the home base.”

For Rowse, the outposts are social media spaces includingFacebook,Twitter, LinkedIn,YouTube, digg and Friendfeed, all ofwhich he uses to steer traffic to his home base at ProBlogger.net.

% of respondents

Online and Offline Activities Among Active* US SocialMedia Users**, March 2010

Reading blogs96%

Watching TV88%

Listening to radio86%

Facebook82%

Commenting to blogs69%

Writing blogs68%

Reading message boards68%

Reading print magazines64%

Reading print newspapers54%

Commenting to message boards45%

Note: n=1,550; *use social media weekly or more; **BlogHer site usersonlySource: BlogHer and iVillage, "2010 Social Media Matters Study"co-sponsored by Ketchum and The Nielsen Company, April 15, 2010114282 www.eMarketer.com

Page 9: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 9

Conclusions

The rates of blog reading will rise appreciably over the nextseveral years. These increases will be driven by an ongoingconfluence between blogs and traditional media,as well as by thegrowing use of blogs at the corporate level.Blogs are an increasinglyaccepted part of the news and opinion loop in a broad variety ofsubject areas,notably politics, technology and celebrity culture.

The numbers of blog creators will also increase, albeitmore modestly. This growth will be spearheaded by the ease ofuse of blog hosting services and the widespread acceptance ofblogs in the media mix.

Social media will also promote blogging by acting as atraffic aggregator to blog sites. However, this will be a double-edged sword, as social venues can also inhibit blogging byproviding users with powerful platforms of self-expression.

Endnotes

Endnote numbers correspond to the unique

six-digit identifier in the lower left corner

of each chart. The charts from the report are

repeated before their respective endnotes.

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Extended Note: eMarketer defines blog readers as internetusers who read blogs at least monthly.

Citation: Accenture, "Mobility Takes Center Stage:The 2010Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services UsageReport," January 5 ,2010; "Global Web Index" conducted byLightspeed Research, May 28, 2009; Retail Advertising & MarketingAssociation (RAMA), "All About Moms," conducted byBIGresearch, September 16, 2009; Universal McCann, "Power tothe People: Social Media Tracker Wave 4," July 30, 2009

% of internet usersComparative Estimate: US Blog Readers, 2008-2010

Universal McCann*, July 2009

Accenture**, Jan 2010

eMarketer, Aug 2010

Retail Advertising & Marketing Association(RAMA)**, Sep 2009

Lightspeed Research***, May 2009

2008

61.0%

33.0%

45.0%

-

-

2009

66.0%

60.0%

48.5%

46.1%

46.0%

2010

-

-

51.0%

-

-

Note: *ages 16-54 with daily or every other day internet access; **ages18+; ***ages 16-64; data is for JanSource: eMarketer, Aug 2010118545 www.eMarketer.com

Page 10: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 10

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Extended Note: eMarketer defines bloggers as internet userswho update blogs at least monthly.

Citation: Accenture, "Mobility Takes Center Stage:The 2010Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services UsageReport," January 5 ,2010; Boston Consulting Group, "China'sDigital Generations 2.0," May 1, 2010; Pew Internet & AmericanLife Project, "Usage Over Time," October 30, 2009; PostReleasesurvey conducted by Synovate, provided to eMarketer, January 25,2010; Retail Advertising & Marketing Association (RAMA), "AllAbout Moms," conducted by BIGresearch, September 16, 2009;Trendstream and Lightspeed Research, "The Global Web IndexWave 1," November 26, 2009; Universal McCann, "Power to thePeople: Social Media Tracker Wave 4," July 30, 2009

% of internet usersComparative Estimate: US Bloggers, 2008-2010

Accenture, Jan 2010 (1)

Universal McCann, July 2009 (2)

Retail Advertising & MarketingAssociation (RAMA), Sep 2009 (3)

Trendstream and Lightspeed Research,Nov 2009 (4)

eMarketer, Aug 2010

Pew, Oct 2009 (5)

Boston Consulting Group, May 2010

PostRelease, Jan 2010 (6)

2008

18.0%

26.0%

-

-

11.3%

11.0%

-

-

2009

39.0%

33.0%

13.0%

12.8%

11.3%

11.0%

11.0%

5.7%

2010

-

-

-

-

11.9%

-

-

-

Note: (1) ages 18+; includes contributing to online references such asWikipedia; (2) ages 16-54 with daily or every other day internet access; (3)ages 18+, maintain own blog; (4) ages 16-64; write own blog; data is forJune; (5) ages 18+; ever create/work on own online journal/blog; (6) ages18+; publish a blogSource: eMarketer, Aug 2010; various, as noted, 2009 & 2010118546 www.eMarketer.com

Page 11: The Blogosphere-Colliding With Social and Mainstream Media

The Blogosphere 11

Related Information and Links

Related Links

ProBlogger.nethttp://www.problogger.net

Technoratihttp://www.technorati.com

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Report Contributors

Susan Reiter Managing EditorJoanne DiCamillo Production ArtistDana Hill Production ArtistDaniel McMahon Senior Copy EditorNicole Perrin Senior EditorMeg Prossnitz Editorial AssistantAllison Smith Director of Charts

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