What is the Blogee Doing by Bernard Koekoek

What is the Blogee doing?

Techshout.com

Author Bernard Koekoek Rijksuniversiteit Groningen http://zwarte-koffie.nl

“That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong, 1969

Abstract Blogging is slowly but surely being adopted as a new broadcast medium, coexisting with traditional ones such as print, radio or television. Blogs are a typical web 2.0 element (Imperatore, 2009) in that they are multi-directional, relying on the target audience to participate. However, there has been no proper research done on this target audience. In fact, even the definition and terminology is unclear. This research introduces the term ‘blogee’ to describe the person reading or viewing a blog and attempts to pave the way for scholars interested in researching the blogee. Blogcomments on the NRC next website, the ‘nextblog’ will be analysed. This website was crowned ‘best blog of 2009’. Coding and statistical analyses of the sampled comments will be performed to scope how the blogee responds to a blog and if this response changes over time. The research clearly shows an interaction between blogger and blogee. While this interaction decreases over time, the positive elements appear to remain constant.

Table of content Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Research Questions

3. Methods

3.1 Coding

4. Findings

5. Interpretation and discussion

5.1 Conclusions

6. References

List of figures Figure 1. Techshout.com

Table 1. Sample summary

Table 2. Wilcoxon signed rank test results per category

What is the blogee doing? 1. Introduction Research indicates that blogs are regarded as less credible (Sweetser et al, 2008). Despite these negative sentiments blogs are on the rise, even within the traditional media. This is a sign that blogging is slowly but surely being adopted as a new broadcast medium, coexisting with traditional ones such as print, radio or television. The most relevant difference between a blog and traditional media is in the accessibility of blogging. Everybody with access to an internet connection can start a blog and present their views and findings to the world, professional and amateur alike, whereas broadcast media up to now were reserved for professional journalists, presenters and writers. Furthermore, most blogs encourage comments and discussion on each entry by giving the blog readers a podium in the comments section provided. As history repeats itself, blogs are welcomed with criticism, as were radio and tv broadcast during their rise. Somehow this criticism has not led to extensive research on blogs, in fact, a lot of questions still remain unanswered. Research has focussed on the usage of blogs (e.g. Armstrong and McAdams, 2009 or ; Gil De Zúñiga et al, 2009), the motivation to start a blog (Hsu and Lin, 2008), the prevalence of blogs and the incorporation of blogs by specific industries (Lewis et al, 2010; Sweetser et al, 2008). Comments, an essential part of blogs, have not been subjected to research at all. And currently there does not even seem to be an understanding on the terminology applied to the people writing and reading a blog. Blog user, blogger, reader, writer, and a host of other terms can be found in articles touching on the subject. More often than not, there is room for interpretation and misunderstandings are easily made. This research proposes a clear and simple distinction. The term blogger from here on in, applies to the man or woman writing the articles, whereas the term ‘blogee’ is introduced to apply to the blog reader. Blogs are considered a typical element of Web 2.0, the multi-directional approach to web usage (Imperatore, 2009). While more old-fashioned websites, or most other media rely only on their target audience to receive the message, a blog brings forth higher demands. The blogee is given an active role, interacting with the blogger and fellow blogees. Apart from the blogee as the individual interacting with a blog, the method of interaction applied for almost every blog has, also, hardly been researched. In general there are two different ways of going about the comment sections. Either by allowing blogees to directly post a comment or by screening the comments before they appear visible to other blogees. This last method is applied to eliminate unwanted reactions containing (automated) spam and / or violent or discriminating comments. The blogee is the main focus of this research. Start off point for any academic research would normally be a literature review. This however, hardly seems possible for the topic at hand. Various online databases, such as EBSCOhost, Web of Science and Google Scholar were queried without any satisfying result. In fact, no one seems to know who the blogees are, or even how they tend to interact with blogs and bloggers. An entire field of research is waiting to be found here. The research presented in this essay does not attempt to answer all the questions that might come to mind as this would quite surely prove impossible. Instead this is an attempt to shed light on a media consumer that thus far has remained in the dark. Questions will rise along the way and indications for further research will be given, providing valuable tools for scholars to follow. Perhaps in time this essay may prove to be a guideline for researchers that are planning to dive into these uncharted waters, scoping the behaviour of the blogee.

2. Research questions Considering the absence of previous research, one is easily tempted to pose numerous questions on the topic. What kind of news consumer is the blogee? How does he or she interact with a news blog? Does the blogee see a blog as a serious source of news? The research presented here however, will merely attempt to take a first step into the realm of the blogee. This entails that most questions will remain unanswered and in fact, more questions are likely to rise. Some media-sources, however, appear to have found answers to at least some of the questions raised above. Dutch newspaper NRC next is a strong example. They consider blogging the way to go on the world wide web. In March 2009 they changed course and redesigned their website into a full-blown blog. Blogees are their primary target audience on the web, it seems. Their efforts have been rewarded with the Dutch Bloggie award. Crowning the ‘nextblog’, as they call their site, with the award for “best weblog (or blog) of 2009.” This research will sample blogs from the NRC next website to get a first glimpse into the world of the blogee. Describing the phenomenon of blog comments and searching for differences in these comments as bloggers progress and can boast on a growing portfolio of blogs. A case study will be performed coding the responses given on a wide sample of blogs derived from the crowned nextblog. Answers to two general research questions will be sought. These answers, perhaps, will in time be the stepping stones for follow-up research. Only then will it be possible to answer more in depth questions such as those mentioned above. For now the following questions will suffice: Research Question1: Do blogees question or criticize professional blogs and bloggers? Research Question2: Is blogee response changing over time? 3. Methods To answer these two questions blogs from the NRC next website were taken as a sample. The nextblog was accessed between November 22nd and 25th of 2010. Blogs posted by three bloggers were selected. These three bloggers, Ernst-Jan Pfauth, Carola Houtekamer and Viola Lindner, were chosen based on a statement on the NRC next website. In this statement, they were depicted as the ‘nextbloggers’. While there are a number of other contributers to the nextblog, most of them are editors for the print version of the newspaper first and blogger second, or in other cases, bloggers are invited to contribute guestblogs to the site. The nextbloggers however are introduced as the driving force behind the nextblog. After the selection of these three bloggers the sample was narrowed down to a total of 150 blogs. To do so, a closer look was taken at the chronological order in which the blogs appeared. Based on this order two samples were taken from each bloggers portfolio. The first sample contained the very first 25 blogs posted by each of the bloggers, while a second sample contained the 101st up to 125th blog that each of them contributed to the nextblog. Subsequently the reactions in the comment sections posted by blogees were coded for each of the 150 blogs. Three separate coding categories were applied. The criteria for which are described in the next section. In general the ‘neutral’ category was used for comments not clearly favourable nor unfavourable to the blog, the ‘opposing’ category was used when comments critiqued or questioned a blog and the ‘corresponding’ category was used for comments favouring the blog, such as compliments or answers to questions the blogger sometimes directed towards the blogee. Finally, a statistical analyses of the sampled data was performed using the SPSS version 16 statistical package. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied as this allows for a repeated measurement approach of the non-parametric data found here. This test compares the first (1 st

to 25th post) and second (101st to 125th post) sample of blogs taken. Statistically significant results show a differences between the samples, direction of this difference can be taken from the average scores. The results of this test will show if indeed blogee responses change over time, thereby answering the second research question, whereas the first research question can be answered by a mere oversight of the findings. 3.1 Coding After determining what blogs to in- or exclude from the sample the blogee responses were coded by the researcher. Since the blogee is the target of this research all reactions by either one of the nextbloggers, even when commenting on a colleague, were coded as neutral. This category was also used for blogee responses that contained statements irrelevant to the issue dealt with in the blog post or for comments of which a clear statement or position could not be derived. The opposing category was used for all comments containing corrections on the blog, be it in details, such as spelling or weblinks, or along more general statements, expressing a negative sentiment regarding the transition of the NRC next website to a newsblog, or regarding the chosen subjects. Furthermore this category was applied when a blog entry contained statements that where later opposed in comments or facts that were explicitly questioned. The third an final category of comments corresponding with the blog was applied when reactions contained praise for the blog entries or the nextblog in general. In cases where the blogger ended his or her article with an open question, all comments answering this question were categorized as corresponding comments as well. In select cases a response was given in the comments section by one of the nextbloggers that sparked a debate of their own. When this was observed the opposing and corresponding categories where applied for comments arguing the statements in the nextblogger’s comment. 4. Findings The results are summarized in table 1. A sample was taken from the NRC next website between November 22nd and 25th of 2010. The sampled 150 blogs contained a total of 962 comments, of which 422 were categorized ‘neutral’ 113 were categorized ‘opposing’ and 415 were categorized ‘corresponding’. Since the number of the blogs posted by either one of the nextbloggers was taken as a sample criterion, the dates of publishing varied quite extensively. Ernst-Jan Pfauth is clearly the most active blogger on the NRC next website, with far higher frequency of posting and an obviously greater total number of blogs on the website. While Carola Houtekamer had blogged on the NRC next website just over 250 times and Viola Lindner could only count a little over 150 nextblogs in her name, Ernst-Jan Pfauth was already closing on his 900th entry. Though only by a small margin, it was also Ernst-Jan Pfauth who had the oldest entry in this sample. His first 25 blogs were published from March 9th to March 18th of 2009. In little over a month Pfauth reached his 100 th entry, the sampled blogs number 101 to 125 for this author were posted from April 16 th to April 27th 2009. A third sample was taken from Ernst-Jan Pfauth blogs, collecting data about his 501 st to 525th blog, which appeared between December 4th and December 14th, still in 2009. Eventually this third sample was left out of the statistical analyses, since a fair comparison to the other bloggers could not be made. Carola Houtekamer followed suit closely as far as dates are concerned, with her first contribution posted on the nextblog on March 11 th of 2009. She however only reached her 25th blog on August 27th that year. Her 101st blog was posted on December 22nd of 2009, blog number 125 saw the light of day on February 16 th 2010. Viola Lindner posted her first nextblog on May 19th 2009 and took up to September 22nd to reach a total of 25 blogs. Her 101st to 125th blogs form the most recent part of this sample, dating from April 27th to June 25th of 2010.

Table 1. Sample summary. Total and (average) number of reactions.

Sample Ernst-Jan Pfauth (1st-25th) Ernst-Jan Pfauth (101st- 125th) Carola Houtekamer (1st-25th) Carola Houtekamer (101st- 125th) Viola Lindner (1st-25th) Viola Lindner (101st- 125th)

Span 3/92009 – 3/18/2009 4/16/2009 – 4/27/2009 3/11/2009 – 8/27/2009 12/22/2009 – 2/16/2010 5/19/2009 – 9/22/2009 4/27/2010 – 6/25/2010

Reactions 193 (7.7)

Neutral 78 (3.1)

Opposing 35 (1.4)

Corresponding 80 (3.2)

77 (3.1)

38 (1.5)

8 (0.3)

31 (1.2)

167 (6.7)

86 (3.4)

28 (1.1)

53 (2.1)

286 (11.4)

115 (4.6)

11 (0.4)

160 (6.4)

132 (5.3)

52 (2.1)

20 (0.8)

60 (2.4)

107 (4.3)

64 (2.6)

11 (0.4)

32 (1.3)

On average the sampled blogs received 6.4 comments, 2.8 of them in the neutral category, .8 labelled ‘opposing’ and another 2.8 got categorized ‘corresponding’. There were some differences between the comments for each of the nextbloggers, Viola Lindner received an average of 4.8 reactions, 2.3 of them neutral, 0.6 opposing and 1.8 corresponding with the blog post being commented on. Ernst-Jan Pfauth’s blogs were commented on an average 5.4 times, 2.3 times neutral, .9 times opposing and 2.2 times corresponding. Carola Houtekamer received the highest average response rate, her blogs were commented on 9.1 times on average. 4 of those post were neutral, .8 opposing and 4.3 were corresponding to the blog. This is largely due to a large outlier in the data, a blog Carola Houtekamer posted January 19th on students not activating their public transport smartcards: “Studenten activeren hun ov-chip niet” received 115 comments, almost all of them coded as corresponding to the blog, largely due to the open questions posted in the blog. Without this outlier Carola Houtekamer’s comments would average 6.9 per blog, 4.1 neutral, .7 opposing and 2.1 corresponding. The results of statistical analyses are summarized in table 2. Tested against α=5% the Wilcoxon signed rank test showed a statistically significant result for the overall amount of reactions (p 0.016), the number of neutral reactions (p 0.029) and the number of opposing reactions (p 0.002) though not for the number of corresponding reactions (p 0.129). All of the tested comparisons showed a declining number of reactions. Table 2. Wilcoxon signed rank test results per category. Negative Z-scores show a decline in the observations per category. Probalities < 0.05 show statistical significance of the Z-score.

Z-score Probability

Reactions -2.401 0.016

Neutral -2.188 0.029

Opposing -3.084 0.002

Corresponding -1.517 0.129

5. Interpretation and discussion The findings show a significant decline in results in the total number of reactions as well as significant declines in almost all of the coding categories. Only the comments coded as ‘corresponding’ appear to remain constant. This entails that the relative number of positive comments increases as a blogger has posted a greater number of blogs. This may point to a general trend of blogees loosing interest after opposing a blogger for a while. It’s noteworthy to mention that first blogs sampled are among the very first to appear on the NRC next weblog. Before March of 2009, the website nrcnext.nl would function as a traditional

newspaper website, cross-posting articles from the print edition, occasionally adding content or linking to further reading elsewhere on the web. This entails that the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;nextlogâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was still in its infancy for the majority of the sampling period used here. The angle of the nextlog as a new phenomenon could explain for the decreasing number of reactions. This can not fully be refuted by the current sample, however if this would be the case it does not explain how the lowest average response rate is observed in the second sample of Ernst-Jan Pfauth, (3.1) while at that time the nextlog could very well still be regarded as new to most blogees. Further research is to be done on this theory. A recommendation would be to research the response rates before and after a recent change on the nextlog. In the last week of September 2010 the nextlog was redesigned. If novelty would be a reason for blogees to respond and engage the bloggers, this should be observed at the time of these changes. Another possible explanation for the decrease in responses over time might be in the motivation of blogees to read and follow a blog. Given that the majority of responses is either neutral or corresponding to the blog one might hypothesize that blogees seek some form of identification. If not found blogees would then abandon a blog or at least stop commenting on it. This would also explain why the opposing category of reactions saw the strongest decline. Taking into account that reactions build upon each other it is possible that this decline in negative comments is at least part of the explanation for the decreasing number of comments in the remaining categories. It seems impossible however to draw conclusions on the blogees attitudes without actually questioning them. Nevertheless the theory is probable enough to justify further research. The 150 blogs sampled for this research entail a variety of different blogs. With a sample of this size, taken from different authors it is reasonable to assume that general conclusions can be drawn on response rates. Data collection however revealed signs of different types of blogs, possibly each with their own power to interact with the blogee. It seems an obvious question to ask what elements of a blog spark the most responses and what types of responses are generated through the different types of blogs. Answering these questions is however beyond the scope of the research at hand. The best way of investigating blogees is perhaps not, as attempted here, by analysing blogs and comments, this is however the most accessible method to create a general picture. For a more detailed analysis of the behaviour of blogees it is recommend to follow the blogees themselves. One may assume a blogee responds to several blogs, perhaps depending not so much on the author of a blog or the website it is posted on, but more on the subject dealt with. Ideally a researcher could gather a selection of blogees and follow the blogs they read and see how they respond to these blogs. There are no apparent technical limitations to perform such a research, all that needs to be done is finding a selection of blogees that are willing to have tracking software installed on their computers. With this in mind it is even more surprising that so little research has been done on the blogee. 5.1 Conclusions A lot of the behaviour of the blogee remains unclear and it will take ample follow up research before one can say otherwise. What is clear however is that blogees tend to interact with a blog along the statements made by the blogger or answering to the discussion when explicitly called for through questions raised in a blog. Negative reactions, or reactions contradicting the blog that is being commented on seem to decrease over time and might be regarded as a result of getting acquainted with the style of a blog. These general tendencies expressed in comments by blogees could be an indication of blogees identifying with the blogger. Different styles of blogs are likely to attract different kinds of reactions. To paint a clear picture of the mechanisms involved here research might have to be done along the lines of this research, with an additional analysis of the blogs, coding them into different categories. The most

crucial recommendation for further research is to stick as close to the blogee as possible, this way the attitude and behaviour of the blogee can be examined. Although much about the blogee remains in the mist, a practical implication to news media looking to incorporate blogs would be to stick as close to the target audience as possible. In the case of NRC next all blogs in the sample with more than 20 comments either had lifestyle type topics, targeted specifically to students and young professionals or described (new) media related news. 6. References Hsu, Chin-Lung and Lin, Judy Chuan-Chuan (2008) “Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of technology acceptance, social influence and knowledge sharing motivation”, Information & Management 45, pp. 65-74 Lewis, Seth C., Kaufhold, Kelly and Lasora, Dominic L. (2010) “Thinking about citizen journalism. The philosophical and practical challenges of user-generated content for community newspapers”, Journalism Practice 4(2), pp. 163-179 Armstrong, Cory L. and McAdams, Melinda J. (2009) “Blogs of information: How gender cues and individual motivations influence perceptions of credibility”, Journal of ComputerMediated Communication 14, pp. 435-456 Gil De Zúñiga, Homero, Puig-I-Abril, Eulàlia and Rojas, Hernando (2009) “Weblogs, traditional sources online and political participation: an assessment of how the internet is changing the political environment”, New Media Society 11(4), pp. 553-574 Sweetser, Kaye D., Porter, Lance V., Soun Chung, Deborah and Kim, Eunsong (2008) “Credibilty and the Use of Blogs among professionals in the communication industry”, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 85(1), pp. 169-185 Imperatore, Catherine (2009) “What You Need to Know About Web 2.0”, Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers 83(9), pp20-23 Dutch Bloggies (2009) “De Winnaars”, http://www.dutchbloggies.nl/2009/?e=28, accessed 1 October 2010. NRC-next “Over ons”, http://www.nrcnext.nl/over/, accessed 24 November 2010