A survey of bloggers in Finland found the following: - Nearly all bloggers (92%) welcome contact from PR firms to provide information and suggestions. Two-thirds had been contacted in the past 6 months. - Email is by far the most preferred means of contact. The majority of bloggers (83%) prefer an introductory contact before receiving information from an unknown PR firm. - The most sought after content types are opinionated responses to blog posts, products to review, and interviews. Corporate news announcements are least interesting. Photographs are the most frequently used content format.

1. Blogger Survey 2009
FINLAND
June 2009

2. Survey Methodology
• Text 100 conducted the survey based predominantly on
relationships with technology, news and lifestyle bloggers across
21 countries. This is the report for Finland;
• Text 100 was responsible for respondent identification and
recruiting, while Aha! Research programmed and collected
responses via an online survey, analyzed, and reported the results;
• A total of 24 surveys were analyzed.
• Note that for some questions the sample size is small and should
be interpreted with care;
• All surveys were offered in English;
• Survey period: April 6 to May 11, 2009.
2

3. Bloggers’ interest in
contact with PR people
Bloggers generally welcome contact from PR firms or a corporation
to provide information, comments, and suggestions. Bloggers in
APAC are slightly more welcoming than their counterparts in the
USA and Europe
93 %
87 % 89 %
(2008: 66%)
APAC EURO USA
Q.1: Do you welcome any contact from Public Relations (PR) firms or any corporation to provide information, offer comment or suggest people
you might be interested in talking to? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
3

4. Bloggers’ past contact with PR people
Bloggers report that contact initiated by a PR firm or corporation
varies from 70% in APAC to 100% in the USA
100 %
86 %
70 %
(2008: 66%)
APAC EURO USA
Q.2a: Have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months about areas you have been focused on
or are interested in? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
4

5. Bloggers’ interest and past contact with
PR people (Finland)
Welcome any contact
from PR firm?
All except two of the bloggers in this survey welcome contact from PR
firms or corporations to provide information, comments, and suggestions.
No
8%
Past 6 months contact?
Yes
No
92 %
33 %
67% of respondents Yes
have been contacted 67 %
in the past 6 months
Q.1: Do you welcome any contact from Public Relations (PR) firms or any corporation to provide information, offer comment or suggest people
you might be interested in talking to? (n=24)
Q.2a: Have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months about areas you have been focused on
or are interested in? (n=24)
5

6. Frequency of contact
100 %
4%
7%
7%
90 % 21% 8%
80 % 15%
Almost all surveyed Less than once every two months
18%
bloggers (96%) in the USA 13% Once every two months
70 %
get contacted by PR firms 11%
Once a month
or corporations once a 60 % Once a week
13%
week or more often. In
More than once a week
Europe (65%) and Asia 50 % 31%
(36%) bloggers get Daily
contacted once a week or 40 % 23% More than once a day
more often
30 % 63%
12%
10% Once
20 % a
14% week
10 % or
19%
4% more
6% often
0%
APAC EURO USA
Q.2b: How frequently have you been contacted any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the
past 6 months? (n= APAC:163, EURO:163, USA:27)
6

7. Frequency of contact (Finland)
19% (n=3) got
contacted more than
once a week
100 %
Past 6 months contact? 90 % 19 % More than once a day
80 %
Daily
70 %
No 38 % More than once a week
60 %
33 %
50 % Once a week
Yes
67 %
40 %
Once a month
30 %
38 % Once every two months
20 %
10 % Less than once every two
months
6%
0%
Q.2b: How frequently have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in
the past 6 months? (n=16)
7

8. Preferred means of contact
6,3
Email Mean score 6,0
5,7
on 7-point
scale 3,6
Face-to-face 4,1
4,5 Email is the most
preferred means of About half of bloggers in APAC
3,0
Comment on blog 4,1 contact with bloggers, and Europe indicate their
4,3 preferred means of contact on
while SMS and IM are
their blog
3,0 least preferred. APAC
Micro-blogging 3,8
4,1 bloggers seem to be 57 %
52 %
3,0
more flexible in their
Social networking invitation 3,3 preferred means of
4,1
contact 30 %
3,0
Telephone 2,8
3,9 USA
1,9 EURO
Instant Messaging (IM) 2,4
3,8 APAC APAC EURO USA
1,6
SMS 1,7
3,4
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Very Low preference” and 7=“Very high preference”
Q.3a: Please indicate to what extent you prefer each of the following means of contact from PR firms or corporations on a
scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is “Very low preference” and 7 is “Very high preference” (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q4: Do you indicate your most preferred form of contact on your blog? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
8

9. Preferred means of contact (Finland)
Email is by far the most preferred
means of contact among bloggers
By email 6,0
Any indication of
preferred means of
Comment on your blog 4,9
contact shown on
By face-to-face meeting 4,6
their blogs?
By micro-blogging platform 3,6
Mean score
By social networking invitation 3,5 on 7-point 62% of bloggers indicate
scale their most preferred form
By telephone 3,3
of contact on their blogs
By instant messaging 2,5
By SMS 1,9
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Very Low preference” and 7=“Very high preference”
Q.3a: Please indicate to what extent you prefer each of the following means of contact from PR firms or corporations on a
scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is “Very low preference” and 7 is “Very high preference” (n=24)
Q4: Do you indicate your most preferred form of contact on your blog? (n=24)
9

10. Contact required before
information distribution?
In APAC, 88% prefer an introduction before
Introductory face-to-face meetings with new
receiving information from a PR firm or
contacts are more important in APAC than in
corporation with whom they have not had prior
Europe or the USA
contact, compared with only 41% in the USA
88 % 4,1
77 %
3,0
2,8
41 %
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.5: If a PR firm or corporation with whom you had no prior contact wants to send you their press releases or other information, do you prefer them to contact you
first to introduce themselves, or just send you their information without an introduction? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q.6: How important you feel it is to have a face-to-face meeting before receiving information from a PR agency or corporation with whom you have not worked with
before? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
10

11. Contact required before
information distribution? (Finland)
83% of bloggers prefer to be introduced before
receiving information from a PR firm or corporation How important is a face-to-
with whom they have not had prior contact
face introduction meeting?
Opinions among bloggers
Prefers no
are fairly neutral though some feel
introductio
n strongly that it is not important to them
17 %
On a 7-point „importance scale‟, the
Prefers
mean is 3.42 which indicates that the
introductio
n average opinion is neutral
83 %
Q.5: If a PR firm or corporation with whom you had no prior contact wants to send you their press releases or other information, do you prefer them to contact you
first to introduce themselves, or just send you their information without an introduction? (n=24)
Q.6: How important you feel it is to have a face-to-face meeting before receiving information from a PR agency or corporation with whom you have not worked with
before? (n=24)
11

12. Interest in selected types of content
6,0
Research, insights, new product development news 5,6
5,3
5,0
Opinionated responses to your blog posts 5,2
Mean score 5,5
on 7-point 5,0
Products to review 5,4
The most preferred content by scale 5,0
bloggers is news of new product 5,6
Interviews with key people 5,0
5,2
development and products for
review, as well as feedback from 4,7
Market trend and forecast/analysis 4,7
4,8 USA
readers and interviews with key
people. 5,2 EURO
Product announcements 4,8
4,4
APAC
4,3
Bloggers show the least interest Competitive product analysis 4,2
4,7
in corporate news
4,3
announcements Event announcements 4,3
4,6
Long-term and strategic related content about 3,8
3,9
corporations 4,4
3,5
Corporate news announcements 3,1
3,5
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Not interested at all” and 7=“Very interested”
Q.8a: Now let‟s talk about your preferred content for your blog. For each of the following types of content, please use this scale
where 1 means you are not interested at all and 7 means you are very interested in this content.
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
12

13. Interest in selected types of content
(Finland)
Opinionated responses, products to review, and interviews, are the most sought
after content type while corporate news announcements is of least interest
Opinionated responses to your blog posts 5,6
Products to review 5,6
Interviews with key people 5,5
Research, insights, new product development news 5,1
Market trend and forecast/analysis 4,7
Product announcements 4,4
Competitive product analysis 4,3 Mean score
on 7-point
Event announcements 4,1
scale
Long-term and strategic related content about corporations 4,0
Corporate news announcements 3,4
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Not interested at all” and 7=“Very interested”
Q.8a: Now let‟s talk about your preferred content for your blog. For each of the following types of content, please use this scale
where 1 means you are not interested at all and 7 means you are very interested in this content. (n=24)
13

14. Content format: Frequency of usage
74 %
Photographs 88 %
88 %
37 %
Charts and graphs 44 % Photographs are the most
41 % frequently used content forms
while podcasts are least
USA
37 % frequently used
Video streaming 43 % EURO
34 %
APAC
15 %
Video podcast 26 %
16 %
% who used
15 %
“a few times a
Audio podcast 13 % month” or more
15 % frequently
Q.9: How frequently have you used each of the following content formats on your blog over the past 6 months?
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
14

15. Content format: Frequency of usage
(Finland)
Photographs are the most frequently used content type with 79% of bloggers using
them a few times a month or more. Video or audio podcasts are used less than a few
times in the past 6 months by most of these bloggers
Daily Few times a week Few times a month Few times in past 6 months Less often Not at all
Photographs 33 % 29 % 17 % 17 % 4%
Charts and graphs 21 % 17 % 25 % 17 % 21 %
Video streaming 4% 13 % 17 % 17 % 8% 42 %
Video podcast 4% 8% 8% 4% 75 %
Audio podcast 8% 17 % 75 %
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %
Q.9: How frequently have you used each of the following content formats on your blog over the past 6 months? (n=24)
15

16. Social Media Releases
Among those aware of SMRs,
effectiveness evaluation is on the
positive side (7-point
Social Media Releases (SMRs) have
“effectiveness scale where
highest awareness amongst APAC
7=Very effective)
bloggers (48%) (note: small USA sample size)
5,3
48 % 4,8 5,0
38 %
26 %
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.10a: Have you ever heard of a Social Media Release (definition provided in the questionnaire? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q.10b: How effective do you think Social Media Releases are as a means to keep you updated on corporations? (7-point scale)
(n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7)
16

17. Social Media Releases
Bloggers generally experienced an increase over the past year
in the usage of SMRs by companies to communicate with them
(note: small USA sample size)
68 %
63 %
57 %
APAC EURO USA
Q.10c: Compared with a year ago, to what extent are companies using Social Media Releases to communicate with you and other bloggers?
(n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7)
17

18. Social Media Releases (Finland)
SMR Effectiveness
Among those 3 bloggers who
have heard of SMRs, 1 feels
SMRs are a very effective means
of keeping them updated on
corporations Compared with a year ago, 2 of
(note: small sample size)
the 3 bloggers experienced an
12% (n=3) of the surveyed
increase of SMR usage by
bloggers are aware of
companies wanting to
Social Media Releases
communicate with them
(note: small sample size)
Yes
12 % 35 % 33 % 33 % 33 %
30 %
25 %
20 %
15 %
No
10 %
88 %
5%
0% 0%
0%
Increased Increased Remained Decreased Decreased
significantly somewhat unchanged somewhat significantly
Q.10a: Have you ever heard of a Social Media Release (definition provided in the questionnaire? (n=24)
Q.10b: How effective do you think Social Media Releases are as a means to keep you updated on corporations? (7-point scale) (n=3)
Q.10c: Compared with a year ago, to what extent are companies using Social Media Releases to communicate with you and other bloggers? (n=3)
18

19. Use of SMR elements
Usage of elements from SMRs in the Intention to use elements from
past year is highest in APAC SMRs in the next year is high in
(note: small USA sample size) both APAC and Europe
(note: small USA sample size)
Past year usage Next year intent to use
(often / very often) (somewhat / significantly more often)
26 % 64 %
61 %
43 %
15 %
0%
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.10d: In the past year, how often have you taken elements (video, quotes, pictures, links) from a Social Media Releases to use in your own blog postings?
Q.10e: In the next year, how often are you likely to use elements from a Social Media Release for use in your own blog postings?
(n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7)
19

20. Use of SMR elements (Finland)
None of these 3 bloggers frequently took
Two of the 3 bloggers said they will use
elements such as videos, quotes, pictures and
SMR elements more often in the
links from SMRs to use in their own blogs.
(note: small sample size)
coming year, while 1 said less often
(note: small sample size)
35 % 33 % 33 % 33 %
70 % 67 %
30 %
Past year 60 % Next year intent
25 % usage 50 % to use
20 % 40 % 33 %
15 % 30 %
20 %
10 %
10 %
5% 0% 0% 0%
0% 0% 0%
0% Significantly Somewhat Same as in Somewhat Significantly
Always Very often Sometimes Rarely Never more often more often the past year less often less often
Q.10d: In the past year, how often have you taken elements (video, quotes, pictures, links) from a Social Media Releases to use in your own blog postings? (n=3)
Q.10e: In the next year, how often are you likely to use elements from a Social Media Release for use in your own blog postings? (n=3)
20

21. Popular blogging subjects
“Computers”, “technology” and “Internet” are the most
blogged about subjects
APAC EUROPE USA
Computers and technology 67 % Internet / Web 2.0 83 % Computers and technology 78 %
Internet / Web 2.0 61 % Computers and technology 74 % Internet / Web 2.0 67 %
Culture and Community 52 % Media 50 % Business and finance 52 %
Entertainment / Arts/ Music 45 % Brands / marketing/ media 45 % Media 26 %
Brands / marketing/ media 42 % Culture and Community 43 % Gaming 26 %
Media 41 % Business and finance 31 % Brands / marketing/ media 22 %
Current affairs 31 % Gaming 28 % Culture and Community 15 %
General News 27 % Entertainment / Arts/ Music 27 % Entertainment / Arts/ Music 11 %
Business and finance 27 % Science 23 % Current affairs 11 %
Government & Politics 20 % Government & Politics 18 % Government & Politics 7%
Gaming 16 % General News 17 % Science 4%
Science 15 % Current affairs 17 % General News 4%
Q.11: Which of the following subjects do you normally blog about? (Select all that apply)
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
21

22. Popular blogging subjects
(Finland)
The Internet is the most blogged about subject among these bloggers
Internet / Web 2.0 79 %
Media 50 %
Culture and Community 42 %
Computers and technology 42 %
Brands / marketing/ media 42 %
Business and finance 33 %
Entertainment / Arts/ Music 29 %
Gaming 21 %
Science 17 %
% who normally blogs
about each subject
Government & Politics 8%
General News 8%
Current affairs 8%
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 %
Q.11: Which of the following subjects do you normally blog about? (Select all that apply) (n=24)
22

23. Importance of various information
sources about corporations
“Other bloggers”, “Corporate websites”, and “RSS feeds” are the surveyed bloggers‟
most important sources of corporate information.
Traditional media is of less importance
APAC EUROPE USA
Other bloggers 5,4 Other bloggers 5,8 Corporation websites 5,4
RSS Feeds 4,9 RSS Feeds 5,3 Other bloggers 5,2
Corporation websites 4,9 Corporation websites 4,9 RSS Feeds 4,9
Social networks 4,8 Corporate bloggers 4,8 Newspapers 4,7
Corporate bloggers 4,8 Micro-blogging sites 4,6 Magazines 4,7
Micro-blogging sites 4,7 Social networks 4,4 Corporate bloggers 4,0
Newspapers 4,6 Newspapers 4,3 Social networks 3,6
Magazines 4,4 Magazines 3,9 Micro-blogging sites 3,4
Social bookmarking sites 4,1 Social bookmarking sites 3,9 Television 3,1
Television 4,0 Television 3,0 Social bookmarking sites 2,8
7-point scale where 1=“Not important at all” and 7=Very important”
Q.12: Please indicate how important each of the following sources are for information about corporations? Please use this scale
where 1 is “not important at all” and 7 is “very Important”. You may use any number from 1 to 7
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
23

24. Importance of various information
sources about corporations (Finland)
“Other bloggers” is the most important source of information
about corporations. Traditional media is of less importance.
Other bloggers 6,0
Corporation websites 5,3
Corporate bloggers 5,0
Social networks 4,9
RSS Feeds 4,6
Micro-blogging sites 4,3
Mean scores
on 7-point
Newspapers 4,1 scale
Social bookmarking sites 3,9
Magazines 3,8
Television 2,8
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Not important at all” and 7=Very important”
Q.12: Please indicate how important each of the following sources are for information about corporations? Please use this scale
where 1 is “not important at all” and 7 is “very Important”. You may use any number from 1 to 7 (n=24)
24

25. Time spent blogging
APAC bloggers spend the least amount of time
blogging while USA bloggers spend the most
7%
18% 9+ hrs / 21 %
24%
week: 31 %
36%
41 %
30 %
APAC 18%
EURO USA
9+ hrs /
week:
44%
35 % 13 %
40%
22 % 9+ hrs /
week:
63%
More than 16 hours 9 to 16 hours 4 to 8 hours Less than 4 hours
Q.13: How much of your working week is spent blogging?
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
25

26. Time spent blogging (Finland)
33% of the bloggers spend more than 9 hours of
their working week blogging
More than 16
hours
21 % 9+ hrs /
Less than 4 hours week:
38 % 33%
Finland 9 to 16 hours
13 %
4 to 8 hours
29 %
Q.13: How much of your working week is spent blogging? (n=24)
26

27. Micro-blogging
The impact of micro-blogging on
81% of bloggers in the USA and normal blogging is the highest in
Europe use micro-blogging, compared APAC (29%) and Europe (27%) where
with 76% in APAC bloggers reported to be blogging more
as a result of their micro-blogging
81 % 81 %
76 % 29 %
27 %
18 %
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.14a: Micro-blogging sites such as twitter, Plurk and Fanfou are increasingly popular alternatives to blogging (and social
networking). Do you use a micro-blogging site? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q.14b: IF YES: Since starting to use a micro-blogging site, has your blogging… (n= APAC:177, EURO:153, USA:22)
27

28. Micro-blogging (Finland)
About 1 in 4 (23%) of these bloggers think that
micro-blogging has increased their normal blogging
75% of bloggers use a micro-
blogging service such as twitter 23% 39%
45 %
39 %
40 %
35 % 33 %
30 %
No
25 %
25 %
20 % 17 %
n=18
15 %
Yes 10 %
75 % 6% 6%
5%
0%
Significantly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Significantly
increased increased increased nor decreased decreased
decreased
Q.14a: Micro-blogging sites such as twitter and are increasingly popular alternatives to blogging (and social networking).
Do you use a micro-blogging site? (n=24)
Q.14b: IF YES: Since starting to use a micro-blogging site, has your blogging… (n=18)
28

29. Honoring an embargo
All bloggers (100%) in the USA would honor the
terms of an embargo placed on a story idea or
announcement, compared to only 90% in Europe
100 %
97 %
90 %
APAC EURO USA
Q.15: If offered a story idea or announcement under embargo (that is, the material is sent to you in advance of when the organization
wants it in the public arena, and advise a time and date after which it can be used), would you honor the terms of the embargo?
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
29

30. Honoring an embargo (Finland)
No
8%
All except 2 of these bloggers would honor
the terms of an embargo placed on a story
idea or announcement
Yes
92 %
Q.15: If offered a story idea or announcement under embargo (that is, the material is sent to you in advance of when the organization
wants it in the public arena, and advise a time and date after which it can be used), would you honor the terms of the embargo?
(n=24)
30

31. Acknowledging sponsorships
Bloggers in the USA are more likely to agree that they should acknowledge that their blog or post
is „supported‟ when making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation
Product reviews Advertorials Posts that support a blogs advertisers Incentives or gifting to report
100,0%
89 % 89 %
90,0% 85 % 85 %
81 % 80 % 80 %
80,0% 74 %
71 %
68 %
70,0% 64 %
60,0% 58 %
50,0%
40,0%
30,0%
20,0%
10,0%
0,0%
APAC EURO USA
Q.16: There has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding bloggers making positive posts in return for some sort of
compensation. Some say that ethically, bloggers should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟, while others disagree.
Do you agree, or disagree, that bloggers should acknowledge corporate sponsorship for: (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
31

32. Acknowledging sponsorships
(Finland)
These bloggers generally agree that they should acknowledge that their blog or post is
„supported‟ when making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation
Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither disagree nor agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
Incentives or gifting to report 50 % 29 % 13 % 4% 4%
Posts that support a blogs advertisers 46 % 33 % 13 % 8%
Product reviews 54 % 21 % 4% 8% 13 %
Advertorials 50 % 21 % 25 % 4%
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %
Q.16: There has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding bloggers making positive posts in return for some sort of
compensation. Some say that ethically, bloggers should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟, while others disagree.
Do you agree, or disagree, that bloggers should acknowledge corporate sponsorship for: (n=24)
32

33. Indication of association with
blogged about entity
Agreement is highest in the USA that bloggers should
always clearly state their employer or association if
blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses
96 %
87 %
75 %
APAC EURO USA
Q.17: there has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding corporate bloggers that don‟t clearly indicate their association
with an enterprise or organization. To what extent do you agree, or disagree, that “bloggers should always clearly state their employer
or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses?” (n=449)
33

34. Indication of association with
blogged about entity (Finland)
Most (84%) agree that bloggers should always clearly state
their employer or association if blogging on issues or topics
that relate to their businesses
70 %
63 %
60 %
50 %
84%
40 %
30 %
21 %
20 %
13 %
10 % 4%
0%
0%
Strongly agree Somewhat Neither Somewhat Strongly
agree disagree nor disagree disagree
agree
Q.17: there has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding corporate bloggers that don‟t clearly indicate their association
with an enterprise or organization. To what extent do you agree, or disagree, that “bloggers should always clearly state their employer
or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses?” (n=24)
34

35. Blogger Survey 2009
FINLAND
June 2009
Lisätietoja:
Kimmo Kuokka
Text 100 Conexio
kimmo.kuokka@conexio.fi
gsm +35840 574 1532