According to New Research from Windows Live Spaces
HONG KONG, Nov. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Key Research Findings
-- Nearly half of those online in Asia have a blog
-- 74% find blogs by friends and family to be most interesting
-- Young people and women dominate (except India where it is
overwhelmingly a male domain and Korea where blogging is a part of
everyday life for all)
-- 50% believe blog content to be as trustworthy as traditional media
-- 41% spend more than three hours a week blogging
-- More than 40% have less than 10 visitors per week
Asia's blogosphere is surging forward with nearly half, 46%, of those
online actively blogging, according to research released today by
Microsoft's MSN and Windows Live Online Services Business. The research
showed that blogging is a social phenomenon with Asians primarily blogging
as a means to maintain and build their social connections and to express
themselves.
Blogging as a corporate or business tool still appears to be nascent in
most markets, with little interest from consumers in blogs from business or
political leaders. The exceptions are online powerhouse Korea where
blogging has permeated all aspects of life and India where a culture of self
improvement is seeing business related blogs become very popular.
Blogging Asia: A Windows Live Report, released today, details the
research findings which are based on an online survey of more than 25,000
MSN portal visitors across seven markets.
Social Connections and Self Expression Drive Asia's Bloggers
According to the report, the region's bloggers are primarily driven by
the need to express themselves and share their lives with family and
friends. The highest number of respondents (53%) indicated that they chose
to start a blog to share a diary or photo album with loved ones.
The report also showed that Asia's blogosphere is fueled by youth with
almost half of all bloggers (56%) under 25, while 35% are 25 to 34 years
old, and 9% are 35 years old and over. When broken down by gender, 55% of
bloggers in Asia were found to be female and 45% male.
"User created content and community based online services are really
propelling the Internet in Asia right now," said Alex Stewart, Director of
Microsoft's Online Services Business, Asia Pacific. "With the introduction
of easy to use services such as Windows Live Spaces, blogging has moved into
the mainstream and become a popular way for people to stay in touch with
family and friends. Today, instead of sending out mass emails or holiday
letters, people are using their blogs to express themselves".
Whose Blogs do we want to read?
Most blogs will have a small audience; in fact over 40% of blogs have
fewer than ten visitors each week. However in Korea, where blogging is more
established 11% have more than 50 and 12% more than 250 visitors per week.
Netizens in Asia are most interested in those blogs written by friends
and family (74%) while blogs by work colleagues were the second most popular
blog but were a distant second with only a quarter of respondents showing
interest. In Korea and India however respondents are most interested in
blogs covering a specific topic of interest.
Politicians fared poorly across the region with only 14% interested in
reading their blogs except in Malaysia where they were quite popular with
20% listing this type of blog as being of interest. Sporting personalities
also failed to impress in general with only 8% expressing interest --
suggesting we are more interested in their talents on the field or the pitch
than their views or perspectives on life.
India stood out with half of all respondents showing a strong interest
in business blogs, ranking them as the most interesting, versus the rest of
the region where just over a quarter were interested in blogs written by
business leaders. Korea also showed high interest in this area.
What makes a good blog?
Bloggers must make sure they update their blog regularly to ensure that
people keep coming back. Respondents indicated that a good blog should,
firstly, be updated regularly and secondly be well written with eye catching
pictures. Among the most annoying aspects of blogging, netizens pointed to
not knowing when a blog is updated, 44%, boring content, 41%, and badly
written entries, 32%, as things that turned them away.
"One of the benefits of Windows Live Spaces is that it is integrated with
Windows Live Messenger and when you update your Space your online contacts
are informed via what's called a 'glean'. This is a great feature and
really addresses one of the biggest pet peeves for blog readers in Asia --
not knowing when they are updated," said Stewart.
"In addition, Windows Live Spaces puts people in control by being easy
to use and easy to customize so people can design their Space in a way that
reflects their personality -- this is a really important aspect to people as
highlighted by the research results".
According to internal data, as of October 2006, more than 70 million
Windows Live Spaces have been created. Blogs hosted by the Windows Live
service receive 120 million unique visitors every month.
The New Fourth Estate?
The survey also shows that blogs are a relatively trusted source of
information with half of respondents believing that blog content is as
trustworthy as traditional media. A quarter of respondents also believed
blogs to be the quickest way to learn about news and current affairs.
Implications for Advertisers
Blogging is a dynamic and exciting online service that is beginning to
drive audiences in the millions across Asia. Each blog may not attract a
huge number of visitors but there are millions of people blogging and they
are beginning to spend more and more time online. The survey showed that
41% spend 3 hours or more each week blogging. Blogging offers brands new and
interactive ways to engage with their audience.
"Innovative advertisers in the region such as Lenovo in Singapore and
ANZ in Australia are already tapping into the blogging phenomenon and
targeting campaigns to users of Windows Live Spaces. We expect as blogging
becomes an even bigger part of the social fabric of communities across Asia
that more and more big brand advertisers will begin to use this dynamic
advertising medium," said Stewart.
The Future
According to Stewart, blogging is still evolving but it is set to become
a vital and important part of the way we communicate and express ourselves
across society -- be it for business or social purposes.
"At the moment Asia's blogosphere is primarily driven by social
connections, people wanting to have their own corner of cyberspace where
they can express themselves with their network of family and friends.
However, in more developed markets like Korea we see blogging taken to a
whole new level with it permeating across the business and social world. In
time blogging will evolve in this way across the region," said Stewart.
* comScore World Metrix's proprietary audience report for April 2006
showed the total number of unique visitors to Windows Live Spaces was 101
million ranking the service as the most widely used worldwide. The
statistics do not include unique visitors in some countries, including China
where MSN Spaces has over 20 million unique visitors.
About the Study
Blogging Asia: A Windows Live Report was conducted online on the MSN
portal and across seven markets in Asia -- Hong Kong, India, Korea,
Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Over 25,000 people took part in
the survey which took place in August and September. The results were
analyzed by Harris Interactive, the 12th largest and fastest-growing market
research firm in the world. More information about Harris Interactive may
be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com .
About Windows Live Spaces
Launched in August 2006, Windows Live Spaces is the next generation of
MSN Spaces. It is the most widely used blogging service in the world with
more than 120 million unique visitors per month. Windows Live Spaces is
easy to use, offers great integration with Windows Live Messenger making it
easy to connect with friends and family and offers customization features
that allow people to make their Space a true reflection of themselves and
their personalities.
About MSN and Windows Live
MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month.
With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages,
MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content
experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses
worldwide. Windows Live, a new set of personal Internet services and
software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships,
information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and
security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows
Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some
Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these and
future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com . Windows Live is
available at http://www.live.com . MSN is located on the Web at
http://www.msn.com . MSN worldwide sites are located at
http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
Microsoft, Windows Live and MSN are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information, press only:
Ngaire Moyes
PR, APAC
Windows Live and MSN
Microsoft Online Services Group
Tel: +61-2-9383-6124
Email: ngairem@microsoft.com
Matt Collette
Edelman
Tel: +852 2837-4743
Email: matt.collette@edelman.com
