The Blogosphere in Latin America: An Analysis of the Region’s Webfluentials.

A study released by The Jeffrey Group reveals that the blogosphere in Latin America is established and growing in size and impact as rapidly as the Internet penetration in the region. The study, titled The Blogosphere in Latin America: An Analysis of the Region’s Webfluentials, examines the patterns and impact of blogging in Latin America as a growing medium of communication with a huge potential for business and organizational impact.
 
“The Jeffrey Group conducted this study to better understand and communicate the current and future role the blogosphere can play in communications throughout Latin America,” said Jorge Ortega, president of The Jeffrey Group. “The statistics of Internet penetration in Latin America are setting global records for growth, and the impact of the Latin American blogosphere is nearly on par with that of the United States. Given the staggering numbers, we felt that the development and impact of the blogosphere within the region demanded a deeper look.”
 
Soledad Laborde, an anthropologist and research analyst at The Jeffrey Group’s Buenos Aires office, directed the study and coordinated dozens of personal interviews with leading bloggers in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. The Jeffrey Group research unit contacted 175 of the top bloggers in Latin America who cover a wide range of topics but focus mainly on technology, politics and general interest news. The report also incorporates examples of influential blogs and cases where blog postings have affected the behavior of organizations and their relationships with the community or marketplace.
 
“The study revealed the impact blogs can have on traditional media, as well as on public perceptions of companies, organizations, political institutions and society as a whole,” said Laborde. “Bloggers in Latin America are realizing the increased power and influence they hold to generate traditional news about their posting and point of view, and the impact their blogs can have in the country and across borders.”
 
Highlights of the report include:
 
 
·         Bloggers have clearly developed into a new wave of opinion leaders and influencers who reach a set of young, affluent consumers and an essential new generation of opinion leaders. They are a niche marketing medium.
 
·         Journalists authored 61 of the 168 blogs sampled in the four countries studied by The Jeffrey Group. Most cited editorial freedom as the main reason to keep a blog.
 
·         Media coverage in Latin America about blogs and bloggers is widespread. Out of hundreds of articles reviewed, The Jeffrey Group found 11,572 mentions of blogs and bloggers within a six-month period in the four countries studied.
 
·         According to Target Group Index (TGI), a global network of single-source market research surveys, there were an estimated 9.1 million bloggers in Latin America in 2007, or 7 percent of Latin American Internet users. This is only slightly lower than the 8 percent of Internet users in the United States who are also bloggers.
 
·         Also according to TGI, from 2000 to 2007, Internet usage in Latin America grew by 590%, which was double the worldwide average.
 
It is clear from the study that as the influence, legitimacy and reach of blogs and bloggers increase, organizations must, under proper counsel and as part of a wider communications strategy, learn to reach out, to relate with and respond to this form of communication. The report recommends that bloggers in Latin America should be targeted strategically and professionally to serve as the digital and online communications component of a strategic direct audience outreach program.
 
To download a copy CLICK on link below:
http://www.jeffreygroup.com/prehome/home/openfile.asp?d=1&l=1>