How do people use blogs?
That's an interesting question that's answered in part by a compilation of a few surveys and reported in the current issue of EContent Magazine.
Eighty-three percent of people responding to a survey earlier this year said they spend up to two hours a week using blogs for professional purposes. An older survey by Advertising Age (Dec. 2006) showed 12.3% of internet users read blogs, but I'll bet that number has risen considerably as more people blog and more of those bloggers are doing it for business purposes.
EContent reports on a third survey, done last January, that asked journalists how they use blogs in their work. The results are interesting:
57.7% Use blogs to measure sentiment on an issue
51% Use blogs to see what mainstream publications are writing about an issue
38.7% Use blogs to get ideas to write about
29.5% Use blogs to find industry experts for background and quotable comment
Clearly, from these results, we bloggers are having an impact on what's in the media. And it also looks like a blog is a good tool for public relations purposes.
I'm usually in that group who spends about two hours a week blogging -- reading, commenting and writing posts. It used to be more, but time is so precious and there's so much to read and keep up with on and off-line.
I blog for a few reasons:
1) It's good for business, since it gives me a higher professional profile and reinforces my credibility as an expert in public relations and marketing communications.
2) It's made me conversant with blogging and other social media so I can speak with authority when clients ask me about the subject.
3) It's enjoyable and personally reinvigorating, giving me a chance to write in my own voice and look more closely at the world around me.
Just curious...
how much time do you spend blogging and why do you do it?
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