The blogging whirlwind

Blogging has become a phenomenon that has swept the world so swiftly where suddenly millions are blogging around the globe. Universal McCann (2008) surveys in March 2008 shows that 184 million people world wide have already started a blog, and 77% of active Internet users read blogs!


Figure 1 : Percentage of blog readers from each country.
Source : Universal McCann, 2008


The blogging trend
There is a significant difference in the trend between European and Asian bloggers. Technorati statistics shows that 52% of bloggers in Europe are 35 years old and above while only 27% of Asian bloggers are of this age group. The median annual investment of European bloggers are doubled compared to Asian bloggers, pervading the fact that the trend in Europe differs from Asia where they take a more serious approach in blogging.


Types of blogs
The top 10 blogs in Malaysia are mostly personal blogs! Based on technorati and Alexa readings, Hong Kiat, Kenny Sia, Paul Tan, Raymond.CC, Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Hemmy.net, JeffOoi, LiewCF, and Cheeserland.com are the top 10 blogs in Malaysia. (Wong, 2009)


Figure 2 : Hongkiat's blog - Technology
Source : http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/



Figure 3 : Kennysia's blog - Personal
Source : http://kennysia.com/



Figure 4: Paultan's blog - Automotive
Source : http://paultan.org/

Majority of the top blogs in Malaysia are political (Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang & Jeff Ooi), technology (Hong Kiat, LiewCF, & Raymond.CC) personal (Kennysia & Cheeserland.com) and entertainment (Hemmy.net) blogs.

Benefits of blogs

Figure 5 : Search benefits of the blogosphere
Source :Elliance.Inc, 2009

Brands and advertising are finding its way in to blogs today. As noticed in Figure 2 - 4, majority of blogs in Malaysia carries advertisements in them.

One of the top blog advertising company is Nuffnang, Asia's first and leading blog advertising community. (Nuffnang.com.my, 2009)


Figure 6 : Nuffnang, Asia's blog advertising community
Source :Mohdhakim.com, 2009

"Nuffnang is a new ways to advertise, it enables local businesses to put up advertisements on homegrown blogs, and for bloggers to make some money off ads from their self-published sites"
Tiah, 2007 - Founder of Nuffnang.com
Source : Starbiz, 2007

The conventional advertisement of print-ads and Tv-ads are costly to some companies, while low cost advertising such as brochures, flyers, and posters are proven uneffective. Blog advertisements has became an effective alternative to most companies today. Benefiting the Malaysian community by not only saving budget but also teaching bloggers today to earn money while blogging! Moreover, while browsing blogs for leisure, one can also gain awareness on brands, events, and many more.



References :

1. Starbiz, 2007, Tiah turns blogging into business venture, viewed 14th June 2009, <>
2. Technorati.com, 2009, State of the Blogosphere, viewed 14th June 2009, <>
3. Universal McCann, 2008, Power to the People : Social media tracker wave.3, viewed 14th June 2009, <>
4. Wong, A 1009, Top 100 Malaysian Blogs, viewed 14th June 2009, <>