Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management The use of weblogs in public relations and communication management Vilnius, August Philip Young, University of Sunderland, UK

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Why should I listen?  Markets are conversations  We are seeing the end of ‘command and control’ model of PR

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Overview  What are weblogs and social software?  Results of EuroBlog2006  Familiarity with Weblogs  Monitoring of Weblogs / Usage of Weblogs  Guidelines for Blogging  Implementing Weblogs: Limitations and Opportunities  Implications for HE PROs  Opportunities and challenges  Internal and external

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management The impact of new media

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management What do new media users do?

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management What is social software?  Weblogs (blogs)  My Space, SkyBlogs etc  Podcasting  Download Mp3s/ soundfiles  Wikis  Collaborative working  Picture sharing  FlickR etc  Video sharing  YouTube, Google etc

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management How many bloggers are there?  On July 31, 2006, Technorati tracked its 50 millionth blog.Technorati

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management What is a blog?  Two-dimensional  Reverse chronological order  Topical and Newsworthy  Links + comments  Aggregation  Networking (conversations)  Search engine visibility  RSS + newsreaders  Speed of messages

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Weblogs: a simple definition 1. reverse chronological order 2. expressive personal style 3. links to other blogs (trackback) 4. comments

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Who is blogging?  About me: people who write about their daily lives for micro-audience of friends and family (online diaries)  Focused interests (niche/ hobbyists): use blogs to communicate with fellow enthusiasts/ with shared experience. Amateurs and recreational  Campaigning: political blogs, pressure group, protests

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Who is blogging?  Networking/ Education/ Development: to debate professional subjects with fellow practitioners  Personal marketing: to promote expertise to clients, employers and others who can influence their careers or businesses.  Commercial: to promote goods and services; can include employee blogs / blogs that encourage customer participation

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Characteristics  Informal style  Spontaneous  Media rich  Sound  Pictures  Videos

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Same technology - works worldwide 1. reverse chronological order 2. expressive personal style 3. links to other blogs (trackback) 4. comments

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management What is RSS?  RSS = Really Simple Syndication  Software checks RSS feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been added to them  Many versions - some use a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Rich Site Summary - Real Simple Syndication 1. Subscribe feed 2. automatic download of new articles without visiting website 3. full article with text, links and comments

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Are you listening?  Two types of conversation  The messages that you want to put out …

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Do you want to listen?  The conversation that is happening around your university … whether you like it or not!

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Philip Young, University of Sunderland, UK Ansgar Zerfaß, University of Leipzig, Germany Swaran Sandhu, University of Lucerne, S witzerland

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Aim of the survey  to understand the spread, implementation and usage of weblogs in public relations and communication management in Europe  familiarity with weblogs  usage/monitoring of weblogs  guidelines for weblogs  implementation of weblogs

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Euroblog 2006: Background Information  Duration: November 1st until December 16th 2005  Participants: 587 PR professionals from 33 European countries  Method: self-recruiting online questionnaire with 25 items  Sampling: national contact points across Europe for distribution/dissemination of survey, self-recruiting snowball  Statistics: SPSS analysis for univariate frequencies  Financing: none: pro bono work by lead researchers and national research partners  Support/Affiliation: initiated and endorsed by Euprera

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Key Statistics / Demographics

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management About the participants  587 PR professionals from 33 European countries  71% under 40 years old  52% male, 47% female  48% with academic degree in public relations/communication management  39% are in senior management position (CEO, Senior Manager with budget/personnel responsibility)  59% work in communication departments (profit/not-for-profit companies)  81% in departments with up to 10 persons

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Familiarity with Weblogs

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Familiarity and usage of weblogs n = 587  2/3 of the respondents are familiar with weblogs  68% either write or read weblogs  but only a third (36%) uses them weekly How familiar are you with weblogs?How often do you use weblogs? writing/contributing regularly, running own weblog in the media/no active part reading/commenting of weblogs

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Monitoring of Weblogs

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Monitoring and RSS Feeds n = 587

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Monitoring and RSS Feeds n = 587 all participants experts

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management What weblogs are monitored? n = 587 (all participants) n = 122 (experts) multiple answers possible

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management What weblogs are monitored? n = 587 (all participants) n = 122 (experts) multiple answers possible all participants experts

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Summary: Usage and Monitoring  Clear split between expert users / all participants  Knowledge of medium weblog increases the willingness to monitor / engage in the blogosphere  Expert users use tools provided by the blogosphere (RSS feeds) to monitor their environment, mostly weblogs in their own vicinity.

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Usage of Weblogs / Guidelines for Blogging

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Usage of weblogs in organizations n = 113 Do you have a weblog in your organization?..what kind?

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Authors of Weblogs / Guidelines n = 113 Who runs the Weblog? Do you have guidelines for blogging?

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Implementing Weblogs: Limitations and Opportunities

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Plans to implement weblogs n = 428  42% of the respondents without a weblog are planning to implement a weblog within a year  32% do not plan to implement a weblog

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Factors for not implementing weblogs n = 587, multiple answers possible

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Factors limiting the use of weblogs index scale: 1= most limiting, 5 least limiting more limiting

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Factors limiting the use of weblogs index scale: 1= most limiting, 5 least limiting more limiting

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Greatest opportunities for weblogs index scale: 1= greatest opportunity, 5 = not important more important

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management How does this affect you?

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Implications for HE  Potentially powerful promotional tool  Internal as well as external  Monitoring Conversations  Good and Bad  CONTROL  You can’t!  INFLUENCE  You should/ must

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management How do people find out about you?  Search engines  Reputation forged in stars  Visibility  Credibility

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Should you blog?  Be strategic  What are you trying to achieve?  Who should blog?

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Engaging with the Blogosphere  Guidelines for staff  Guidelines for students  Who can say what to whom?  When?  With what purpose?

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management About EuroBlog 2006

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management About Euroblog 2006 and Euprera  Euroblog 2006 is the first pan-European survey to provide a comprehensive overview how communication professionals are using weblogs and for what purpose.  The initiative is supported by EUPRERA, the European Public Relations Education and Research Association, a community of researchers from universities and institutions from more than 30 countries. ➔ ➔

Results of the first European Survey on Weblogs in Public Relations and Communication Management Lead Researchers / Contact Persons  Philip Young, M.A. University of Sunderland, United Kingdom  Prof. Dr. Ansgar Zerfass, Dipl.-Kfm., Dr. rer. pol. habil. University of Leipzig, Germany mail  Swaran Sandhu, Dipl. rer. com., M. Sc. University of Lucern, Switzerland (from 09/2006)