Walk the halls at Edelman and what you’ll often hear discussed is that the vertical, top-down, one-way model of communications – as the sole blueprint for PR – is no longer. It has been augmented by a new horizontal, peer-to-peer approach.
This new paradigm, of course, requires a different set of skills than what we’ve relied on for the last 50+ years. Further, in the Information Age communicators need to think both globally and locally. (This was one of the big things I personally learned since joining Edelman almost a year ago.)
This week Edelman published its fourth white paper on blogging. This one is focused on the impact of the conversation both globally and locally. It offers corporations a guide on how to navigate the global blogosphere.
Our StrategyOne research arm conducted an ambitious survey in Japan, China, South Korea, Italy, the UK, US, Germany, Belgium, Poland and France. We analyzed how often people are reading blogs as well as how many of these individuals are influencers. Finally, we looked at the press to see just how often they cite blogs. The white paper includes lots of data, country by country analysis and an essay on where we see blogging going from here.
One of the biggest takeaways is that blog readership is far higher in Asia than it is in the US. Some 74% of Japanese read blogs, followed by 43% in South Korea and 39% in China. In the US, it’s about 27% and its even less in Europe. Blog readership is significantly higher among influencers - people who for instance, contact a political, attend a public meeting etc.
You can download the entire report here (PDF) or browse it interactively. As always, we’re eager to hear your thoughts and feedback.
Tags: Edelman
