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Fortune 500 Blogging Down for the First Time since 2008

Written by Sarah Howell | Oct 1, 2014 12:51:32 AM

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research has recently found that blogging among Fortune 500 companies has dropped for the first time in seven years.

As it is currently, 31 percent of Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs. That number is down three percent from last year’s 34 percent. Last year also saw the highest percentage of corporate blogging since 2008, when the university began the study. Percentages of Fortune 500 companies blogging has stayed steady or increased since the study began.

  • 2008 – 16%
  • 2009 – 22%
  • 2010 – 23%
  • 2011 – 23%
  • 2012 – 28%
  • 2013 – 34%
  • 2014 – 31%

But what about the activity of these blogs? Surprisingly, 78 percent of the blogs are active. Being “active” is defined by the study as keeping current, taking comments, having an RSS feed, and taking subscriptions.

The study surmises that the reason why blogging is down is that social media usage is up. LinkedIn is by far the most popular social media platform among Fortune 500 companies, as 97 percent have a presence there. Twitter is the second most popular, with 83 percent of companies active on the platform, up from 77 percent in 2013. Facebook is next, with 80 percent having a page on the social media site, up from 70 percent last year. Pinterest saw the highest jump, with 36 percent of companies currently operating a board on the site, up from 9 percent in 2013.

See also: 7 Questions to Answer Before Launching a Company Blog

Sources:

  • “Fortune 500 Blogging Down 3% This Year, First Drop In 7 Years [Survey].” 2014. MarketingLand.com
  • “Blogging by the Fortune 500 drops for first time in 7 years.” 2014. MarketingDive.com
  • “Why Is Blogging Down 3% This Year For Fortune 500 Companies?” 2014. Ipsinc.org