NI bloggers buck the topic trend
Parenting is the top topic for bloggers across Northern Ireland, flying in the face of ‘fashion’ and ‘food’, which are favourites across the rest of the world. 30% of bloggers locally, who responded to an international blogging survey carried out by dcp strategic communication (dcp) in Northern Ireland, blog on parenting compared to only 6% across Europe and 8% globally.
In Europe the most popular blog topic was fashion with 15% closely followed by food at 12% which followed the global trend at 15% for fashion and 13% for food. Northern Ireland came in with similar numbers for these topics at 15% apiece. Beauty was the next most popular topic globally (13%), across Europe (12%) and came in as being equally as popular as fashion and food in Northern Ireland (15%).
The global survey was initiated by IPREX, the international public relations experts’ organisation, of which dcp is the sole Northern Ireland member. Suzie Fisher of dcp, commented: “Following attendance at recent IPREX international meetings in Boston and Madrid, we decided as a group that we were interested in determining bloggers’ reach and influence in their own individual countries and in comparison to others. We also wanted to find out what the trends were and how best to work with bloggers.
“We used a standardised survey across the companies in the IPREX global network and were then able to compile and compare our results. Bloggers themselves have been intrigued by the exercise and the majority who responded were extremely encouraging and keen to know the results and how the local ‘norm’ fitted into a global perspective.
“Interestingly, the Northern Ireland bloggers are mostly in their thirties, which fits the international average of 37, older than may initially have been expected. Blogging in Northern Ireland is still seen as quite ‘new’, with 26% writing their blogs for less than a year compared to 4% in both Europe and globally. However, almost one third of Northern local bloggers have been blogging for more than five years which is in line with the rest of the world with Europe at 38% and 34%, globally.
“Responding bloggers were predominantly female. In Northern Ireland 66% were female, across Europe, 67% and globally, 69% so this is typical within the community. As blogging peaks when people are in their thirties and is undertaken mostly by females, it is common that at this time in life, young children may be at the centre of the lives of bloggers, making ‘parenting’ a particularly relevant topic on which to blog. We believe that this also shows that Northern Ireland parents are open to sharing experiences when it comes to family and, in most cases, will actively seek out, as well as provide, support and guidance.
“Most bloggers across the province and the world have embraced new media by incorporating other social media platforms into their blog. Most popular were Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest and almost 50% of those who responded stated that they hoped to be able to make money from blogging.
“Globally half of bloggers already earn money from blogging compared to 45% across Europe. Interestingly in Northern Ireland, where blogging is not quite as established, only about a quarter of respondees earn money from blogging, which may increase as blogging continues to rise in popularity. We may also see more companies and organisations across Northern Ireland concluding that those involved in blogging can be extremely influential within the marketplace, communicating regularly with readers who are already engaged.”
IPREX has 100 offices worldwide and the survey was conducted in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, USA, Finland, GB, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Slovenia, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Global responses were collected from 1360 bloggers.
For further information about IPREX, visit www.iprex.com and additional information about dcp strategic communication can be found at www.dcppr.co.uk.
