Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 269275

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Public Relations Review

Blogging PR: An exploratory analysis of public relations weblogs

Jordi Xifra a, , Assumpcio Huertas b,
a
b

Faculty of Tourism and Communication, University of Gerona, Spain

Predepartmental Unit of Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and Journalism, Rovira i Virgili University, Spain

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 25 September 2007
Accepted 24 March 2008
Keywords:
Weblog
Public relations
Interactivity
Usability

a b s t r a c t
Although there are ever more weblogs on the Internet, this is an area that has been little
researched in public relations, and where they have been analyzed it has been as a tool
for communication rather than a primary information source in the public relations body
of knowledge. This paper provides an exploratory study of the structure and content of 67
blogs on public relations to determine what issues they deal with and whether they are a
tool for the theoretical development of the eld. In addition to their content we have looked
at the structure, usability and interactivity of the blogs.
2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Blogs are seen by some authors as major tools for online communication, whereas by others they are little more than
experts opinions on a given issue (Herrera & Celaya, 2006). They are such a recent medium (beginning in 1996) that the
concept remains controversial and arguable (Barton, 2005). In any event their persuasive and informative function is of
great relevance as they can obtain opinion leadership with a huge inuence over public opinion. In this sense Sweetser and
Metzgar (2007) have demonstrated that in crisis situations, people who read personal blogs have a lower perception of crisis
for an organization.
The rise of blogs seems to be unbridled and it is a phenomenon that is occurring in all knowledge elds (Jenkins, 2006).
There are currently over 60 million blogs in existence and 75,000 new ones each day (Cohen & Krishnamurthy, 2006). More
than 14 million people worldwide keep a personal diary on the Internet and a further 100 million (one third of the active
Web universe) read blogs habitually (Gordillo, 2007). Every six months the blogosphere population doubles, and it is today
sixty times greater than three years ago. No communication medium has ever burgeoned so rapidly. Weblog writers produce
700,000 to 1.3 million articles every dayalmost one a second (Gordillo, 2007). Since their arrival blogs have been changing,
as have their social perception, objectives and cultural, economic, political and media impact (Yang, 2007). Weblogs have
diversied and are developing in such diverse spheres as education, business, politics, journalism and public relations.
According to Hallett (2005), the communicative use of weblogs in public relations has twofold foundations. On the one
hand they enable professionals to analyze the market and ascertain the opinions of their audiencesto gauge public opinion
on a business, product or brand. On the other, they are a major technique for participating and giving opinions both personal
and organizational, be it by posting comments on other blogs or creating ones own.
This study, however, does not focus on analyzing corporate blogs, which are used as a public relations tool, but looks at
blogs concerning public relations in which public relations or one of its activities is the main theme. Our aim is to analyze

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 972 41 89 04; fax: +34 972 41 87 32.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 977 55 85 33; fax: +34 977 55 86 17.
E-mail addresses: jordi.xifra@udg.edu (J. Xifra), sunsi.huertas@urv.net (A. Huertas).
0363-8111/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.03.022

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J. Xifra, A. Huertas / Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 269275

what public relations blogs are about, or what issues are dealt with in blog posts, in addition to any structural elements of this
new communicative tool that may affect its efcacy to transmit information: objectives, structure and degree of usability,
interactivity, and level of connectivity.
2. Method
Databases of public relations blogs are few and far between. One of the most comprehensive, and regularly updated, is the
Online Public Relations (http://www.online-pr.com)1 directory, created by James H. Norton. We have chosen this database
which encompasses a public relations blogs directory split into four categories: Public Relations-General (67 blogs), Directories
and Aggregators (7), Miscellaneous (3), and High-Tech PR (8). In order to avoid any bias resulting from the categorization criteria,
for the purposes of this study we took 67 blogs from the Public Relations-General category. The data collection was carried out
between October 2006 and January 2007. Therefore, the sample selected for analysis consists of 67 blogs on public relations
from around the world.
For the data collection we drew up an analysis template that measures 50 items which were later categorized to create
the main analysis variables. These variables were:
(a) Author: The blogs were classied as personal, organizational written by an employee, and purely organizational and,
therefore, impersonal.
(b) Content: Analysis was carried out of both the issues arising in the blog posts and the images or other resources. The
content of blogs is tied up with its pursued objectives, which were also examined.
(c) Interactivity: This measures the degree of user participation, according to the interactive resources available on the blog.
These include: the option for external users to post comments or contact the blog author by e-mail, podcasting, audio
and video downloads, sales of products and services, user surveys, and the possibility of subscribing.
(d) Usability: This is a necessary requisite to develop efcient interactivity (Hallahan, 2001). This variable analyzes how easy
it is to use the weblog for those who access it by means of: search engines on other blogs, internal search engines, list of
previous les, list of most recent blog posts, and calendar.
(e) Connectivity: This measures the extent to which the blog is linked to other websites, be it through other linked blogs or
websites of interest.
The analysis focuses on the descriptive statistical data on all of the items under study, in addition to the contingency
tables and variable correlation. Given the characteristics of the study variables largely nominal and ordinal the Gamma
index was used as the most suitable correlation index for the analysis.
3. Results
A look at the date when the blogs analyzed were created reveals that the lions share was set up very recently. Only 31.3%
go back earlier than 2004. By contrast, 61.2% of the sample blogs were created between 2004 and the present. It was not
possible to ascertain the creation date for ve blogs (7.5%).
One of the dening paradigms of blogs is that they are written in real time. With this new medium we shall no longer
speak of frequency but of real time, of ongoing contributions. The upside of this is that they are more dynamic and enriched
with a range of conversational styles, but they are lacking in contemplation (Orihuela, 2006). Despite these characteristics,
over half of the blogs analyzed (53.7%) receive new blog posts around every ve days. Only 11.9% are updated or include new
input on a daily basis.
3.1. Authorship
In their study into corporate blogs Lee, Hwang, and Lee (2006) split them into ve categories: the employee blog, written
by any worker in the company; the group blog, which is a workers blog kept not by one person alone but by a set of experts;
the executive blog, written by management; the promotional blog, which is an impersonal corporate blog seeking to spark
discussion on products and events; and lastly, the newsletter blog, which is also impersonal and aims to represent the company
stance through its information. We have used this blog authorship classication for our own study but brought it down to
only three analysis categories: personal blogs, by public relations professionals; company blogs written by an employee,2
either non-management or management; and public relations company blogs.
The largest share (77.6%) of the blogs analyzed in this study is personal, written primarily by public relations professionals.
Corporate blogs written by employees or management constitute a much smaller proportion (16.4%). Impersonal corporate
blogs were by far the smallest group (4.5%). This data corroborates the fact that one of the main characteristics of blogs is that

Retrieved October 29, 2006.

These are also called evangelists due to the major role played by employees themselves, also known as brand ambassadors (Hannegan, 2004), regardless
of their position in the organization.
2

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271

Table 1
Objectives of analyzed blogs
Blogs objectives

Give personal opinions

Comment on current affairs
Inform about personal life
Inform about products/services
Inform about an organization
Theory development

54
62
26
34
28
19

80.6
92.6
38.8
50.7
41.8
28.3

they are personal, and users seek this human voice in their communication (Jenkins, 2006). Impersonal corporate blogs are
not as widely accepted by the blogger community (Lee et al., 2006: p. 320) because they are seen as marketing tools or as
simple lters from the public relations department.
With regard to the type of personal blogs, these results match those found in other research. Herring, Scheidt, Bonus, and
Wright (2004), in a study conducted in 2003 on a sample of 199 blogs, also observed that most blogs (70%) were personal.
Indeed, according to this study, personal information is one of the dening characteristics of blogs.
However, what is most striking in these results is the low percentage of corporate blogs written by employees, given
the powerful communicative tool that they constitute for organizations. Some companies have caught on to their potential
and encourage their staff to keep blogs. These contain personal, subjective communication that is not directly sent out by
the company but by a third party who gives their own opinions and the information is therefore perceived as impartial
and unbiased. However, the value of this type of communication lies not only in its impartiality but also in the personal
information provided, which gives a human face to the company and builds up a positive community vision around it and
its products (Lee et al., 2006).
3.2. Content
Table 1 shows the main objectives of the blogs analyzed. As can be seen, most seek to comment upon topical affairs in
public relations profession, as well as to voice personal opinions on these issues. Given that the blogs analyzed are largely
personal, interest in the authors contributions is understandable. Conversely, the low percentage of weblogs that aim to
debate issues surrounding public relations theory is surprising.
If we look at the contents we nd that 88.1% of the blogs analyzed contain comments on various aspects of public
relations and 85.1% on other communicative affairs. Commentaries on blogs and communication in the blogosphere are also
considerable (74.6%), albeit in a lower proportion. It is worth highlighting that comments on aspects of the authors personal
life, such as trips, hobbies, family and professional achievements, arise in 50.7% of the blogs. This reveals that weblogs are
communicative tools with a strong personal emphasis in all areas discussed.
Overall, this data suggests that blogs belonging to an organization are more serious and formal, in both their content and
the blog posts. Moreover, they fundamentally provide information on their own company and publicize its website. This
contrasts with personal blogs where the tone can range from the strictly formal to the colloquial.
The results also reveal differences in the contents of professional and non-professional public relations blogs. The former
explore issues in public relations and communication in general, as well as the blogosphere and the Internet. However, the
blogs written by non-professionals provide opinions on advertising, television and other more informative aspects. These
do not contain experiences but opinions and perception of the eld.
Broadly speaking, there is no advertising on blogs. Although 41.8% of the sample includes banners, these are not advertising
of the blog but traditional adverts that have been added to blog posts to be highlighted, displayed or commented on from
a marketing communications perspective. Therefore, they constitute advertising integrated into the user comments, with a
high degree of subjectivity.
Lastly, Table 2 shows the percentages of the main issues tackled in the blog posts on the weblogs analyzed. As is evident,
95.5% of the blogs discuss the blogosphere in their comments. These concern the importance of this new communicative
tool, its characteristics and its use in public relations. The next most important are topics on Internet communication, in
Table 2
PR issues discussed in blog posts
PR issues discussed

Profession and labor market

PR rms
Clients
PR theory and practice
Internet communication
Blogs
Books
Campaigns

44
44
26
50
57
64
43
43

65.7
65.7
38.8
74.6
85.1
95.5
64.2
64.2

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J. Xifra, A. Huertas / Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 269275

addition to the theory and practice of public relations, albeit from more of a professional than an academic or research-based
stance.
3.3. Interactivity
As Jo and Kim (2003) pointed out, interactivity can play a crucial role on the Internet, setting it apart from traditional
media. In consequence, the intrinsic interactivity of the Web can enhance the mutual relationship and collaboration between
the message sender (the organization) and the receiver (the public) (p. 202). One of the main characteristics of blogs is their
potential for user interactivity the option for users to write their opinions openly or respond to other comments. Kelleher
and Miller (2006) have demonstrated that blogs are perceived as more relational than websites. From a similar standpoint,
Hiebert (2004) recognizes that blogs foster democracy because they restore dialogue and participative communication in
the public sphere and preserve the role of public relations by means of two-way communication.
Blogs have a more human voice and conversational air about them that sets them apart from other online communicative
tools. The two primary dening differences of blogs are: personal communication and the possibility of adding comments.
Furthermore, these features create positive relational results amongst users: greater satisfaction and trust, mutual control,
and involvement (Kelleher & Miller, 2006). So, by providing the opportunity to set up a human conversation, blogs have
become major tools for online two-way public relations.
Nevertheless, only 73.1% of the sample analyzed in our study enables external posts from registered users, whilst 4.5%
allow them without having to register. So, although this is a distinctive feature of blogs, 22.4% of them do not admit external
comments.
The ability to contact the author, however, is more frequently used88.1% provide this option via e-mail. This is largely
through the Outlook program which automatically opens when the authors e-mail is clicked upon.
However, interactivity one of the fundamental characteristics of this new means of communication not only refers to
users being able to write and post comments on the blog but is a far broader concept that embraces many more resources. As
Orihuela (2006) has stated, for users blogs are a new way of actively searching for contents, exploring and surng information

spaces. Furthermore, blogs are multimedia. They contain a melange

of texts, audio les, videos, graphics and photos. And
all of these interactive resources comprise a new communicative language that breaks through the barriers of textual and
audiovisual communication.
Notwithstanding, the public relations blogs analyzed in this study have, on the whole, yet to provide many of these
interactive resources. With regard to the potential of podcasting, only 31.3% offer the possibility of listening to or downloading
music or audio les, while 34.3% have videos. These are rst and foremost from Youtube and are in the main advertisements,
announcements and lectures on public relations.
Images are essential for arousing visitors curiosity in blogs (Domnguez, 2006). Most of the blogs analyzed contain
photographs, although these are not used excessively. 43.3% of the sample almost half either does not display any photos
at all or only contains one or two. Thus, the visual side of blogs is far less developed than websites. Blogs predominantly
contain comments and information rather than images.
Broadly speaking, the photos are personal and show the blog author or his/her family, trips and friends. It is also possible
to nd photos of recommended books and a spattering that have no direct link to public relations. These are usually from
adverts or means of communication and are found on the posts left by the blogs users.
Surveys only appear in 11.9% of the blogs analyzed. These tend not to be polls set up on the blog in order to ascertain its
users opinions but come from public relations studies conducted by companies or bodies other than the blog author.
An option to subscribe in order to use some type of interactive resource or to access information or participate actively
by leaving a blog post is available in 64.2% of the blogs analyzed.
Lastly, e-commerce is a resource by which products and services can be distributed, bought and sold over the Internet.
In the sample analyzed, 83.5% of the blogs do not offer this service to their users; those which do sell products made by the
author. These include digital sales services, public relations consultancy and materials, the overwhelming majority of which
are books.
3.4. Usability
Hallahan (2001) has examined the nature and value of the elements of an effective website based on usability principles.
Usability refers to how well users can take advantage of that functionality. A series of items show us the extent to which a
blog is structured and usable so that it is easier for users to browse and use it. One of these is the search engine. The results
reveal that 68.6% of the sample analyzed has internal search engines, while 70.1% contains search engines for other blogs.
Other useful features are archives (89.6%), usually ordered and shown chronologically, and most recent posts (85.1%),
which make it easier to consult the blog. The list of most recent blog posts is usually found in the lower central frame of the
blog and tends to contain the most current comments. Archives, however, are largely situated in the right or left frame of
the blog.
Trackbacks, which register the links that users have followed to other websites, are less widely useda mere 31.3% of
the blogs analyzed. Moreover, hardly any of the blogs that do offer this possibility have a trackback in their comments. This
suggests that this powerful tool for interaction between blogs is rarely implanted and, therefore, underused. Trackbacks

J. Xifra, A. Huertas / Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 269275

273

Table 3
Blogs links
Links to

Blogrolls to other PR blogs

Blogrolls to other blogs
To comments on other blogs
To websites of interest
To PR company websites
To marketing company websites

64
49
38
54
36
25

95.5
73.1
56.7
80.6
53.7
37.3

enable two or more comments between different blogs to be linked up so that they are interrelated. On the whole, this link
is located at the foot of the blog post, next to the comments.
3.5. Connectivity
As is evident from Table 2, the weblogs analyzed are largely linked to other public relations blogs with comparable
characteristics and objectives that may be of interest to users. Blogrolls are lists of links to other blogs that the author reads
or recommends. This is another distinctive feature of the medium that boosts communities by creating crossed links between
blogs (Orihuela, 2006).
Secondly, the results show that the blogs are linked to websites of interest which also concern public relations and
organizational communication. So, overall, the blogs are efciently linked up since all linking possibilities with other online
media are found in over half of the blogs (Table 3), except the links to marketing websites. This indicates that the structural
vision of public relations is far stronger than the instrumental perspective.
4. Analysis and correlation of variables
Comparing the degree of development and treatment of the various analysis variables in the sample blogs, Table 4 reveals
that broadly speaking the blogs tend to be highly usable and are linked to other websites. However, they are not as interactive.

These results are comparable to those found in a study on websites (Fernandez

Cavia & Huertas, 2006), in which the
variables of usability and interactivity were also analyzed. This demonstrated that the sites analyzed had better structure,
design and usability than interactivity. Websites are more usable and structured than interactive. And the same can be said
of blogs. Therefore, in general, there is a squandered potential in interactive resources, which are precisely what characterize
and set apart online communication.
Weblogs should make fuller use of the possibilities for interactivity afforded by the medium since this is one of its
distinctive characteristics. Furthermore, a study by Du and Wagner (2006) showed that the most successful blogs those
pulling in millions of visitors are those that manage to give their readers greater worth, both through the manner in which
the content is presented and organized, and through the social interaction resources on offer to users. Hence, the variables
of usability and interactivity are vital to blog efcacy. As has been shown, the latter has still some development to undergo.
If we relate the analysis variables to each other it is possible to observe that they appear to have no correlation. As such,
personal blogs are neither more usable, more interactive nor more connected than corporate blogs. And vice versa. Likewise,
the most usable blogs are neither the most interactive nor the most connected. This pattern is repeated in all of the variables.
However, there is some correlation between concrete variables and items analyzed in the study, which sheds light on the
characteristics and functionality of the public relations blogs in the study.
Firstly, the authorship variable shows an absolute (r = 1.00) and signicant (p 0.000) negative correlation with the
treatment of issues regarding advertising campaigns and public relations. This implies that all of the corporate blogs analyzed
display and discuss their campaigns.
Secondly, with regard to blog objectives, those that aim to give information about the authors personal life correlate
totally (r = 1.00) and signicantly (p 0.000) with issues dealt with around personal life. Logically, this type of blog includes
information from the author concerning: hobbies, recent trips, professional and personal highlights, and so forth.
Similarly, blogs that aim to provide information about products or services correlate widely (r = 0.72) and signicantly
(p 0.006) with blogs that have more videos and interactive resources (r = 0.57) (p 0.002). So, as can be seen, blogs with
promotional objectives are more likely to use interactive resources and videos to display their products and services in such
a way that is more attractive to users.
Table 4
Descriptive statistics of analyzed variables
Variables

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Standard deviation

Variance

Linked
Miscellaneous
Interactivity
Usability

2
1
0
1

6
8
7
5

3.95
5.54
4.07
3.54

1.396
1.938
1.694
1.027

1.948
3.755
2.870
1.055

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J. Xifra, A. Huertas / Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 269275

Conversely, blogs whose purpose is to report on an organization correlate negatively with the possibility for external
comments from users (r = 0.74) (p 0.007) and with the option of contacting the author (r = 1.00) (p 0.008). Astonishingly,
corporate blogs which have an organization as a rhetorical subject in the public space behind their author are not taking
advantage of what this new medium can afford as a key tool in relationships management.
As has been demonstrated in previous studies (Cass, Munroe, & Turcotte, 2005; Kelleher & Miller, 2006; Lee et al., 2006),
the capacity to facilitate conversation with audiences and for these to make their own comments has a considerable and a
positive impact on users perception of the organization. For Lee et al. (2006), companies must realize that setting up open
dialogue with consumers is the best way to forge good relations with them, based on familiarity and credibility. Additionally,
they believe that this is the prime benet of corporate blogs their capacity for dialogue. Cass et al. (2005) add that blogs
which foster participation from consumers and take on board their comments not only build good relations but achieve more
sales and business since ascertaining consumer needs and encouraging them to give ideas and suggestions leads to better
sales gures.
However, the results of our study show that many rms still have misgivings about giving users or customers total freedom
to make unrestricted comments. Therefore, public relations rms are actually underutilizing a major value in excellent public
relationsdialogue (Kent & Taylor, 1998).
If we look at interactive resources, the results show a high correlation (r = 0.62) (p 0.008) between photos and videos and
between photos and links to other websites (r = 0.69) (p 0.007). Such results suggest that the blogs that contain the most
photographic images are also the ones with the most videos and, therefore, focus on the treatment of images and multimedia
resources. These are also the blogs that have the most links to other websites and are the most connected.
There is a high (r = 0.90) and signicant (p 0.006) correlation between videos and the sale of products and services and
a strong correlation (r = 0.86) (p 0.000) between videos and the option to subscribe. This tells us that the blogs that sell
products and services are those that include the most videos. So, as has been demonstrated previously, videos can be good
promotional tools that make online products and services sales more tangible.
Similarly, there is an absolute (r = 1.00) and signicant (p 0.003) correlation between products sales and the option
to subscribe. This reveals that all blogs on which products and services are sold require buyers to subscribe. There is
also a high (r = 0.60) and signicant (p 0.003) correlation between interactive resources and the subscription option.
This means that the blogs with most interactive resources are also those that most use the user subscription option.
These results are logical in that such interaction makes it possible to ascertain data on users as well as their needs and
opinions.
Finally, there is also a moderate-high correlation (r = 0.55) (p 0.008) between more linked up blogs and those that deal
with issues in the professional and the labor market; and a high correlation (r = 0.79) (p 0.000) between the most linked up
blogs and those about issues on public relations rms. All of this means that the blogs that are most interested in the public
relations profession and industry are also the ones that are best connected to other websites and related blogs.
5. Conclusions
This study shows that public relations blogs have been around for such a short time that some of their resources and
capacities are still underutilized. The lack of development in interactive resources is proof of this. For instance, the most
important of these, which is a dening characteristic of blogs furthermore, is the possibility for users to write and add
comments. Many blogs still do not enable this.
It is striking that public relations rms blogs the blogs analyzed in this study should be less accepting of users free
opinions than personal blogs. Previous studies have shown that this resource is an important communicative technique in
public relations that enables two-way communication between organizations and their audiences; and yet, the company
blogs in this sector are those that use it least.
Moreover, in general interactivity is poorly developed in the blogs analyzed. Interactive resources are scant in terms of
the services they could offer, such as: user polls, video downloads, chats and online publications. It is therefore possible to
say that the interactive potential to involve, interest and entertain users is being wasted.
On another note, one of the foremost characteristics of this new medium, which is also observed in the sample analyzed,
is the subjective nature of the blog posts. The authors of the blogs analyzed take the most newsworthy events to give their
opinions on issues related to marketing communication and public relations. Their primary objectives are: on the one hand,
to keep public relations professionals abreast of current affairs, latest happenings in the sector, job offers, and so forth; and
on the other, to create a space for debate and dialogue between these professionals.With regard to the most frequently
occurring issues, it is interesting to note that these are rarely educational topics such as conferences, theories or recent
research. As such it is possible to observe a widening gap between the professional world of public relations and academic
research, despite increasing research into public relations and communicational organization in recent years. In their study
on the role of theory development in public relations scholarship, Sallot Lyon, Acosta-Alzuru, and Jones (2003) categorized
the articles published in main public relations academic journals (Public Relations Review, Public Relations Research Annual,
and Journal of Public Relations Research) in three categorical and 38 sub-categorical variables. The three categorical variables
were: introspective, practice or application of public relations, and theory development in public relations. According to this
categorization, based on Fergusons (1984) research about the status of theory building by public relations scholar, used in
other major content analysis research of public relations body of knowledge (Molleda & Laskin, 2005; Xifra & Castillo, 2006),

J. Xifra, A. Huertas / Public Relations Review 34 (2008) 269275

275

the data collected suggest that blogs analyzed are basically related to the practice or application of public relations and are
also introspective.
In short, we can see that in the rapid development of blogs there are still two areas that must be boosted. Firstly, interactive
resources in general should be further developed on blogs, and particularly their capacity to allow more external comments
from users. Secondly, the professional public relations sector, and specically some rms in that sector, should lead the
eld in making the most of the communicative resources that blogs encompass and in fully developing their potential as a
knowledge management tool in the practice of excellent public relations.
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