A Closer Look at
Indonesian Bloggers
Indonesia Blogger Survey 2009
Key Findings

2009 Indonesia Blogger Survey
The 2009 Indonesia Blogger Survey is an online survey carried out by
IndoPacific Edelman and Blogfam
It is designed to take a closer look at the profiles of Indonesian bloggers
Research period: October 2008 – February 2009
219 bloggers (members and non-members of Blogfam) participated
IndoPacific Edelman also interviewed 7 prominent bloggers
45% of bloggers live in the Greater Jakarta area, while the rest are spread
over other areas in Indonesia, such as Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi,
Bali, and Papua, as well as overseas

Key Findings
Bloggers trust other
Bloggers have strong
bloggers when
presence in social
looking for
media
information
Bloggers have low
Intensity and interest in monitoring
frequency of blogging their own blogs as
increase over time well as identifying
their blogs’ level of
influence

“Blogging is a journey for
bloggers to find their
passions.” (Enda Nasution)
Indonesia Blogger Survey
WHO & WHY

Facts & Figures
21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 > 41
Age
11% 30% 20% 23% 15%
Marital status
Married, no
children 5%
Married with children Single
33% 62%
Gender
Male Female
67% 33%
Base: all respondents

Facts & Figures
Post Graduate
Education
< High School College University or higher
23% 14% 51%
13%
Professions
Freelancers and
College students Full time employees Professionals
entrepreneurs
22% 38% 13%
24%
Base: all respondents

Most bloggers are relatively new
Years of blogging
5 and
Below 1
above
12%
4 8%
16%
61% have been
1 blogging for 2
24% years or less
3
15%
2
25% Base: all respondents
Q: How long have you had a blog? (in years)

But they are active
Time spent blogging in one week
>10 hours <1 hour
11% 12%
No differences
between length of
>10-15 hours
years blogging and
10%
time spent for
blogging
>5-10 hours
12%
1-5 hours
55%
Base: all respondents
Q: On average, how many hours a week do you spend blogging??

And have a strong presence in social media
Social networks
Friendster 85%
Facebook 76%
Multiply 60%
Mailing lists 51%
Plurk 40%
Hi5 23% On average, bloggers are
registered with 3 to 4 social
Twitter 21% networking sites
MySpace 19%
LinkedIn 18% Most frequently used
feature: Journal/blog/notes
Live journal 6% (46%)
Base: all respondents
Q: Of the online community networks listed below, which one are you
registered on?

Blogging is very personal
Initial reason for blogging Current reasons for blogging
65% 62%
60% Personal-related Business-related
54% 53% activities activities
52%
44% 44%
25%
23%
14%
10% 9% 9% 9%
8% 8% 6%
Sharing Speak my mind Channeling Personal Sharing updates Meeting people Developing Becoming full Earn money
experience/ writing hobby documentation on personal life with same online business time blogger from advertising
knowledge with w friends/family hobby/interests
others
Base: all respondents
Q: When you first decided to start a blog, what were your main reasons?
And you are now writing to… (You may choose a maximum of 5 options)

Nearly 50% bloggers subscribed to other blogs via RSS Feed
Blogs subscribed through RSS Feed
Individual/collaboration blogs (76%)
Yes News portals (10%)
41%
Community blogs (5%)
Blogger networks/aggregator (4%)
No
59%
Others (3%)
Base: all respondents Corporate blogs (0.5%)
Base: respondents who subscribed to blogs via RSS Feed
Q: Do you subscribe to the RSS Feed of certain blogs/websites? What are
the blogs/websites?

Transformation in blogging
Insights from in-depth interviews with influential bloggers
Personal Sharing mechanism
documentation with others
Personal notes Personal branding
Spontaneous Experience-based
writing opinion articles
Personal space Public space

“We are in a period of reform –
from a visual to reading/writing
society … one future trend will be
to see more blogs about serious
topics *more than personal+.” (Romi
Satrio Wahono)
Indonesia Blogger Survey
WHAT THEY WRITE

Content: It's all about me
Hobby-related topics 78%
Personal life story 67%
Work-related topics 39%
Personal opinion on current issues (outside
23%
politics)
Scientific analysis on certain issues 14.2%
No differences in the
Personal opinion on current political issues 12.3% Top 3 Blog Contents
between bloggers who
Commercial info/online business 10.0% are parents, married
without children, or
Entertainment 6.4%
single
Product/program review 6.4%
Base: all respondents
Q: Which of the statements below best describes your blog content?
Please choose a maximum of 3 answers.

Topics written by bloggers
Social and human interest 34%
Technology 33%
Entertainment 31%
Traveling 28%
Religious/spiritual 21%
Politics 16% Bloggers who are
married without
Culinary 13% children have a greater
interest in politics and
Health 10% science-related topics
Base: all respondents
Q: Which topic do you usually discuss on your blogs? Please choose a
maximum of 3 answers.

Influence of marital status in reasons for blogging
Married w/children Married no children Single
63% 64% Personal-related Business-related
62%
60% activities activities
58%
56%
50% 51% 50%
46%
43%
40%
25%
22%
20% 20%
16%
14%
12%
10% 9% 10% 10%
7% 7% 7%
3%
Sharing Speak my mind Channeling Personal Sharing updates Meeting people Developing Becoming full Earn money
experience/ writing hobby documentation on personal life with same online business time blogger from advertising
knowledge with w friends/family hobby/interests
others
Base: all respondents
Q: When you first decided to start a blog, what were your main reasons?
And you are now writing to… (You may choose a maximum of 5 options)

Do children matter for bloggers?
Bloggers’ preference and postings differ between those with and without children
Bloggers who are married without Bloggers who are parents
children • Use blogs for personal
• Use blogs to generate income and documentation
share updates on personal life with • Are more likely to talk about social
friends/family and human interest issues
• Are more likely to write about
traveling and science-related topics

Most female bloggers like posting light information such as
entertainment and traveling
Male (n=125) Female (n=61)
44%
41%
35%
31% 31%
27% 28%
26% 26%
19% 19%
9% 9% 10%
Technology Social and human Entertainment Traveling Politics Spiritual Personal stories
interest
Base: all respondents
Q: Which topic do you usually discuss on your blogs? Please choose a
maximum of 3 answers.

Mars vs. Venus
Male bloggers
Female bloggers
• Blogging mostly to share • Blogging mostly to channel
knowledge/experience their writing hobby
• More into technology-related • Like posting light information
postings (entertainment and personal
• Also interested in stories)
entertainment-related topics • Mostly search for traveling
• Registered in 2-3 SNS and culinary-related topics
• Prefer to check email and • Registered in 2-3 SNS
access content-sharing • Prefer to check email and
websites in limited online access SNS in limited online
session session
• More likely to monitor their • Pay less attention to their
blogs’ traffic blogs’ traffic

What bloggers say about bloggers, social media
& corporate blogs
Insights from in-depth interviews with influential bloggers
“Citizen journalism is not yet trusted,
because we don’t have any standard for
posting information online.”
(Wicaksono)
“We are not used to having independent
thoughts and expressing our opinions...
bloggers in smaller cities are less
confident and reluctant to speak up.”
(Enda Nasution)
“Corporate blogs will experience stumbling blocks,
as most corporations do not cultivate an open
culture and freedom of speech, or are open for
external inputs.” (Ady Permadi)
“Corporations are starting to be aware of the influence of the
social media. If they are ready to use the social media, then
they have to be prepared for the consequences and will have
to monitor the media.” (Pitra Satvika)

“Blogging changes over time. In the
early days, we were happy when our
postings were read. Now, we are
more enthusiastic about writing.
When we find something unique, we
share. ” (Bayu Amus)
Indonesia Blogger Survey
HOW OFTEN

Intensity increased in first year, then stabilized
Intensity and frequency of blogging compared to years of blogging
More Less Same
18% 16%
29%
42%
50% 56%
25% 30%
38%
27% 14%
22%
58% 54%
33% 31% 36%
22%
< 1 year 1 year (n=41) 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years and
(n=21) (n=43) (n=27) (n=28) more (n=16)

Reasons for change in intensity & frequency
Reasons for more
• Need to share experiences
• Wider network
42% • More spare time
• Easier internet connection
• Greater interest in blogging
• Need to develop online business
Reasons for less
• Workload
29% • Lack of ideas
• Limited internet connection
• Bored
• Occupied with other online
activities / social media
Q: Compared to when you were just started writing your blog, in what
ways have the intensity and frequency changed?

Most bloggers actively update their blogs in the first 2 years
60%
Rarely Often
56% 55%
Often
50% 52%
Often Rarely
Often
44% 46%
42%
40%
30%
55% of all bloggers
20% often update their
blogs
10%
0%
< 1 year 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years and more
Base: all respondents
Q: How often do you update your blog per month (if you have more than 1
blog, please answer with the most frequent time)?

Updating blogs is opportunity-driven
Reasons for updating blog
Maintain blog Bloggers with
58%
activity lower intensity
rarely update
Share latest their blogs
47% (59%)
information
Share interesting
43%
information
Respond to current Bloggers with
43% higher intensity
events
actively update
their blogs
Blogging is part of
21% • Often 59%
routine activities • Very often 21%
Base: all respondents
Q: How often do you update your blog per month (if you have more than 1
blog, please answer with the most frequent time)? What are your main
reasons for updating your blog or adding a new entry to your blog?

“To me, blogging is done with
passion and from the inside…so
its success is not a concern.”
(Wicaksono)
Indonesia Blogger Survey
SUCCESS METRICS

Monitoring of own blog
Entrepreneurs (80%) and
professionals (85%) have
higher interest in monitoring
their blog’s traffic
Reasons for monitoring:
Monitor
54%
Curious about number of
visitors (44%) “It’s not important
Not to monitor my
Curious about visitor
monitor blogs.” (68%)
preferences (29%) 46%
Male (63%)
Curious about visitor profiles
(13%) “Don’t know
Female (37%)
how to do it.”
Curious about influence of (12%)
blog on visitors (7%)
Base: all respondents
Q: Do you intentionally monitor the traffic and page views of your blog?
(please mention your reasons)

Success measures are quantitative
Factors to measure blogs
• Numbers of unique visitors 66%
• Numbers of comments 56%
• Numbers of RSS subscribers 18%
Base: all respondents
39% think it’s not
important to
measure their
blogs’ success
Q: Please rank 3 things from the list below that you consider to be the top
factors for measuring the success of your blog.

“Traditional media remain the
more trusted sources of
information because, unlike blogs,
they are formal institutions.”
(Romi Satrio Wahono)
Indonesia Blogger Survey
SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Trusted sources of information
Newspapers 77%
News portals 60%
TV 57% “News portals are more trusted
than blogs because bloggers lack
Blogs 49% the resources to undertake
proper research for their
Community forums 32% postings.“ (Endah Sulwesi)
Corporate websites 31%
Traditional media
Magazines 30%
• Have reliable sources and research
Mailing lists 25% • Provide more accurate info
• Institutionalized
Social networking sites 25%
Blogs
Radio 19%
• From “a person like me”
Tabloids 11%
• Has detailed behind-the-scene info
• More varied and creative in topics
Base: all respondents • Free of “interests”
Q: When searching for information, which type of media do you think are
the most reliable for providing accurate information?

Topics searched & trusted blogs
Technology 43%
Social and human interest 37%
Traveling 34%
Entertainment 31%
Religion/spiritual 21%
Most bloggers tend to
Culinary 18%
search blogs that discuss
the same topics as theirs
Politics 15%
Health 9.70% “We live in the world where everything is needed
in real time. When you look for rumors, go to
Sports 9% Kaskus. If you want more credible information, go
to the online version of traditional media, then try
Personal 7%
the blogs for more detailed info.”
(Romi Satrio Wahono)
Base: all respondents
Q: Which topic do you usually search from other blogs? For each topic that
you chose for, please specify the most reliable blogs (provide most
accurate/useful information)

Influence of blogs on readers
“No easy way to determine
the credibility of news in
blogs, unless we know the
blogger.” (Enda Nasution)
Articles in my blog might be able to influence readers
37%
to have the same opinion
Other bloggers link to or quote my articles 30%
Readers forward my articles to other people 29%
Articles in my blog motivate readers to take action 28%
Articles in my blog attract readers to subscribe 18%
Q: In the following statements, you are required to provide a score for
each statement based on your opinion about the level of influence of your
blog (Top 4 Box)

What bloggers say about the influence of blogs
& their role as endorsers
Insights from in-depth interviews with influential bloggers
“What most bloggers cannot do: be
objective, undertake proper research and
investment to develop stories, and obtain
legal support.” (Enda Nasution)
“Traditional media are highly influenced by
advertisers, so blogs or online forums are more
believable.” (Pitra Satvika)
“As an academic and researcher, I have to be neutral
and impartial – if I endorse certain parties, this will be a
conflict of interests.” (Romy Satrio Wahono)
“It’s okay for companies to pay bloggers as
endorsers, as long as the bloggers are honest
and inform readers that the postings are
sponsored.” (Wicaksono)

2009 Indonesia
Blogger Survey
Thank You