The blogosphere and public relations : Investigating practitioners' roles and blog use

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the perception and adoption of blogs among public relations practitioners and how blog use relates to roles and status. Design/methodology/approach – A national e‐mail survey of 216 US public relations professionals was used. Findings – While blog use was similar to national audiences, practitioners were maintaining mostly personal blogs and using blogs professionally at low levels. Furthermore, women lagged behind men in the strategic use of blogs. Finally, cluster analysis challenged Porter and Sallot's roles typology, reverting to the previous manager‐technician dichotomy. Practical implications – While practitioners use blogs at a similar level to that of the general population, they may be missing an opportunity to reach publics directly both through blogging and placing stories in blogs. Originality/value – The paper provides an early look at an emerging technology that most practitioners agree will have a substantial impact on the industry.