Study: Blogging for social connections and self-expression

Nov 30, 2006 21:41

Is a silent, mental revolution taking place right across Asia--thanks to Internet and blogs?

Take a look at some key findings on the Malaysian blogosphere in an online study released by Microsoft on November 28, over 74 percent of bloggers in Malaysia are below 25 years old and about 64 percent of them are female.

Significantly, over 56 percent among them take to blogging because they want an opinion space for themselves.

The study, named "Blogging Asia: A Windows Live Report", was conducted online on Microsoft's MSN portal, covering its seven markets in Asia, namely Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. The sample size was over 25,000 whose feedback was collated in August and September, and the data were analyzed by market research firm Harris Interactive.

Malaysian blogosphere
The study also reflects the dynamics of the Malaysian blogosphere. Significantly, some 50 percent of bloggers in Malaysia use the medium to express themselves, while 63 percent skew their content toward entertainment.

About 49 percent of the bloggers treat blogs as a channel to share their viewpoints among friends and relatives.

Interestingly, only 3 percent are willing to consider themselves as "free media practitioners", though they admit to blogs as a medium in mass communication.

Nevertheless, Malaysian bloggers share the same taste as their Asian counterparts where blogs on technology, travel and music are ranked among the most popular.

In the larger pan-Asian picture, the study also shows that:

• About 46 percent, or nearly half of the population online in Asia, have a blog


• Young people, about 56 percent, dominate the blogosphere. Only 9 percent are 35-years-old and above


• Females (55 percent) dominate the blogosphere, except for India where it is overwhelmingly a male domain


• About 50 percent believe blog content to be as trustworthy as traditional media


• About 74 percent find blogs by friends and family members to be the most interesting

In general, politicians fare poorly across the Asian region, with only 14 percent interested in reading their blogs. The exception is in Malaysia where 20 percent of respondents to the study have listed this genre as blogs of interest.

Blogs have evidently entered the business domain in India. About half of all respondents from India show a strong interest in business blogs, ranking them as the most interesting. This is in contrast to the rest of Asia where just over a quarter are interested in blogs written by business leaders.

Interestingly too, the Long Tail effect that Clay Shirky mentioned in his 2003 article, "Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality", is evidently true--more than 40 percent of bloggers polled in the study have less than 10 visitors per week.

Again, the exception is Korea where blogging is more established, with 11 percent having more than 50, and 12 percent with over 250 visitors per week.

To build blogs that garner traction and popularity, the study indicated that in Korea and India, survey respondents are most interested in blogs covering a specific topic of interest.

Congruent with previous studies conducted in the US, only regularly updated blogs stand a chance to get populated by visitor traffic.

Secondly, blogs must be well-written and ideally complemented with eye-catching pictures.

Social connections and self-expression
In summary, the study indicates that Asia's blogosphere is surging forward with accelerated popularity among Netizens. Blogging is a social phenomenon that is now considered as a means to maintain and build their social connections and to express themselves.

However, blogging as a corporate or business tool still appears to be fledgling in most markets as consumers show little interest in blogs from business or political leaders. The exceptions are Korea and India, the technology powerhouses in Asia.

Equally significant is the indication derived from the study that blogs are impressively a trusted source of information, with half of the respondents believing that blog content is as trustworthy as traditional media.

The other significant trend is that with blogs becoming a dynamic online genre, will that make blogs an enticing advertising platform that gives brand owners new and interactive ways to engage their audience? Already, innovative advertisers in the region such as Lenovo in Singapore and ANZ in Australia are tapping into the blogging phenomenon and targeting campaigns to users of Windows Live Spaces. In Malaysia, my blog at www.jeffooi.com has also been partnered by technology brands such as LG Mobilephones and Intel Malaysia to test drive new product launches.

Though the study is strategically skewed using data generated from MSN portal's blog traffic, it provides reflections of certain facets of the Asian blogosphere. Perhaps Alex Stewart, director of Microsoft's Online Services Business, Asia Pacific, has put it rather optimistically: "Blogging has moved into the mainstream."

Guest user

 

Recent Comments

 

Most Discussed

 

Browse Archive