According to a report by Crmmetrix a leading provider of customer-listening solutions the French are most blog savvy outside of the USA. The report put down the following facts:
26.7% of the French online population visit a blog at least once a month.
In addition:
- 18.8% have posted a comment on a blog
- 8.1% have created there own blog
- 92.2% of onliners agree that blogs enable the greatest freedom of expression
- 81.3% are both reactive and interactive
- 75.7% say blogsd create a closest possible relationship between people
- 62.9% of blogs are considered more critical than any other source of information
Among French Internet users who consult blogs:
- 74.4% of do so to get information
- 57% to share experiences
- 56.7% to look for advice
- 70.3% of 16-24 years olds and 40.5% of 35 years olds have visited a blog to get information
|
Subjects Most Interesting to French Bloggers (% of respondents) |
|
|
Subject |
Total % |
|
News |
54.2% |
|
Music |
46.3 |
|
Leisure |
43.8 |
|
Cinema |
41.6 |
|
Travel |
32.7 |
|
Sport |
32.5 |
|
Dining, cooking, food |
27.4 |
|
Photography |
26.4 |
|
Television |
25.6 |
|
Games |
24.9 |
|
Technology |
24.1 |
|
Fashion |
23.5 |
|
Brands |
22.0 |
|
Medical |
21.0 |
|
Science |
20.3 |
|
Politics |
19.4 |
|
Books, comics, magazines |
18.9 |
|
Art |
15.4 |
|
Marketing, trade |
12.3 |
|
Law |
11.6 |
|
Religion |
10.6 |
|
Industry |
8.7 |
|
Source: crmmetrix, “BaroBlogs,” June 2006 |
|
The report shows that men and women take liking to different subjects.
- 44.6% of men and 17% of women to Sport blogs
- 32.8% of women and 11.7% of men to Medical blogs
- Music is especially interesting for the 16-24 years old (61.4%)
- less for the 50+ years old (27.4%)
Personal blogs are by far the most consulted (90%), followed by group and association blogs (46.3%) and media blogs (38.2%), while nearly one-third (29.9%) of French blog readers have visited a brand’s blog.
Now this raises questions on how the Indians blog? or read them? or comment on them? Could brand blogs be the next online marketing tool that revolutionizes the industry?
Recently economic times had an article which stated that 86% of the 25 million odd internet users in the India regularly checking out blogs (second only to e-mailing), nearly 59% coming from middle-to-low income group (essentially socio-economic class B&C) and approximately half being from outside the top eight cities
This shows a growing trend that blogs could become the information source for the masses no doubt the government recently banned access to blogs following the blasts as a precautionary measure which to me seems against freedom of expression. Anyways to conclude this blog i would like to say that we Indians could surely learn something from our french counterparts.
