The Social Media Librarian

Graham Lee

We have just released Social Media Insight 2009 – the first comprehensive report into social media in the UK & Ireland.

The report offers a snapshot of just how widespread the use of blogs, podcasts, social networks, forums and other online social platforms is in 2009, and how and where people are consuming them. The breakdown of social media topics and geographical information contained in the report was compiled solely using data from Social Media Library.

The purpose of the report is to help people get more of a feel of the social media landscape as it currently stands. Social media is immensely complex, and particularly if you are not immersed in it day-to-day, quite confusing. Add to this the fact that our shared English language with the US -  making it exceedingly hard to garner actual engagement levels in the UK - and it becomes a difficult beast for people to get their heads around.

Marketing Week ran a five-page feature on the report today and we hope to see more debate stirring as people discuss the findings.

I am going to use this blog over the course of the next few weeks to share in more detail the key findings of the report, with our analysis and thoughts. Please stay with us. 

This is the first time such comprehensive analysis has been available of the proliferation of social media in the UK. I’m really keen to hear your thoughts and views – please do share any comments.

If you would like to download the report – click here

To kick things off, I will start with a detailed overview of the UK blogosphere. Twitter, social networks, podcasts and forums to follow over the course of the next few weeks…

Regional breakdown



A third of influential blogs are concentrated in London, a high proportion for a city that can only claim around 10% of the total population of the UK & Ireland. Overall, the South of England accounts for more than half of all influential blogs. The Midlands as a whole clearly has some catching up to do, but the North West can claim a healthy 13%. Much of this can be attributed to the buoyant music, media and cultural scenes of Manchester and Liverpool, the region’s biggest urban centres, which has spawned associated blogs.

Outside England, there is a low concentration of influential blogs. Scotland, however, outstrips Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland combined, with 7% of the total.

By Sector

Key findings:

•    38% of influential bloggers are writing about consumer-focused issues
•    25% are sharing their thoughts on technological matters
•    The third biggest group is b2b bloggers at 15%

B2B focused blogger activity



Key findings:

•    42% of influential b2b blogs are on marketing (including media and PR)
•    31% of b2b blogs are focused on creative subjects
•    Blogs on the environment make up 35% of all B2B industry blogs

Consumer focused blogger activity



Key findings:

•    45% of entertainment blogs cover music
•    21% of consumer interest bloggers write about fashion
•    13% of consumer blogs are on arts & crafts

Healthcare focused blogger activity



Key findings:

•    58% of healthcare blogs are of a professional nature
•    More than a third (34%) are written about patient issues
•    6% of healthcare bloggers are students

Finance focused blogger activity



Key findings:

•    Almost a third (30%) of influential financial blogs are about investment issues
•    25% of financial blogs are about general, or macro- economics
•    8% of financial bloggers discuss personal finance issues online

Technology focused blogger activity



Key findings:

•    Consumer technology is huge in the blogosphere, making up 61% of this area
•    27% of technology blogs are about IT-specific issues
•    15% of technology blogs are about photography