BloggingPR:AnexploratoryanalysisofpublicrelationsweblogsKeywords:WeblogPublicrelationsInteractivityUsabilityAbstract：AlthoughthereareevermoreweblogsontheInternet,thisisanareathathasbeenlittleresearchedinpublicrelations,andwheretheyhavebeenanalyzedithasbeenasatoolforcommunicationratherthanaprimaryinformationsourceinthepublicrelationsbodyofknowledge.Thispaperprovidesanexploratorystudyofthestructureandcontentof67blogsonpublicrelationstodeterminewhatissuestheydealwithandwhethertheyareatoolforthetheoreticaldevelopmentofthefield.Inadditiontotheircontentwehavelookedatthestructure,usabilityandinteractivityoftheblogs.1.IntroductionBlogsareseenbysomeauthorsasmajortoolsforonlinecommunication,whereasbyotherstheyarelittlemorethanexperts’opinionsonagivenissue(HerreraCelaya,2006).Theyaresucharecentmedium(beginningin1996)thattheconceptremainscontroversialandarguable(Barton,2005).Inanyeventtheirpersuasiveandinformativefunctionisofgreatrelevanceastheycanobtainopinionleadershipwithahugeinfluenceoverpublicopinion.InthissenseSweetserandMetzgar(2007)havedemonstratedthatincrisissituations,peoplewhoreadpersonalblogshavealowerperceptionofcrisisforanorganization.Theriseofblogsseemstobeunbridledanditisaphenomenonthatisoccurringinallknowledgefields(Jenkins,2006).Therearecurrentlyover60millionblogsinexistenceand75,000newoneseachday(CohenKrishnamurthy,2006).Morethan14millionpeopleworldwidekeepapersonaldiaryontheInternetandafurther100million(onethirdoftheactiveWebuniverse)readblogshabitually(Gordillo,2007).Everysixmonthstheblogospherepopulationdoubles,anditistodaysixtygreaterthanthreeyearsago.Nocommunicationmediumhaseverburgeonedsorapidly.Weblogwritersproduce700,000to1.3millionseveryday—almostoneasecond(Gordillo,2007).Sincetheirarrivalblogshavebeenchanging,ashavetheirsocialperception,objectivesandcultural,economic,politicalandmediaimpact(Yang,2007).Weblogshavediversifiedandaredevelopinginsuchdiversespheresaseducation,business,politics,journalismandpublicrelations.AccordingtoHallett(2005),thecommunicativeuseofweblogsinpublicrelationshastwofoldfoundations.Ontheonehandtheyenableprofessionalstoanalyzethemarketandascertaintheopinionsoftheiraudiencestogaugepublicopiniononabusiness,productorbrand.Ontheother,theyareamajortechniqueforparticipatingandgivingopinionsbothpersonalandorganizational,beitbypostingcommentsonotherblogsorcreatingone’sown.Thisstudy,however,doesnotfocusonanalyzingcorporateblogs,whichareusedasapublicrelationstool,butlooksatblogsconcerningpublicrelationsinwhichpublicrelationsoroneofitsactivitiesisthemaintheme.Ouraimistoanalyzewhatpublicrelationsblogsareabout,orwhatissuesaredealtwithinblogposts,inadditiontoanystructuralelementsofthisnewcommunicativetoolthatmayaffectitsefficacytotransmitinformation:objectives,structureanddegreeofusability,interactivity,andlevelofconnectivity.2.MethodDatabasesofpublicrelationsblogsarefewandfarbetween.Oneofthemostcomprehensive,andregularlyupdated,istheOnlinePublicRelations(wwonline-pr)1directory,createdbyJamesH.Norton.Wehavechosenthisdatabasewhichencompassesapublicrelationsblogsdirectorysplitintofourcategories:PublicRelationsGeneral(67blogs),DirectoriesandAggregators(7),Miscellaneous(3),andHigh-TechPR(8).Inordertoavoidanybiasresultingfromthecategorizationcriteria,forthepurposesofthisstudywetook67blogsfromthePublicRelationsGeneralcategory.Thedatacollectionwa...