1. Over 170 000 Blogs has been created in Finland

Over 170 000 blogs has been created in Finland, population 5,2 million. This means 70 % growth in 4 months - at the end of May there were about 100 000 blogs created in Finland.

These are the latest figures (at the end of September 2005) how many blogs has been created in Finland. The numbers for MSN, Live Journal and Vuodatus.net I have asked directly from the companies.

• MSN Spaces Finland: over 133 000 blogs, +75 % since at the end of May
• Live Journal Finland: 22 162 blogs, +29 % since at the end of May
• Vuodatus.net: 2 059 blogs, +127 % since at the end of May
• Estimate others: 15 000 blogs (mostly Movable Type, Word Press, Blogger.com, Greatestjournal and universities), +50 % since at the end of May

About those 170 000 blogs one third are somehow active and 17 000 very active but this is a rough estimate based on studies published in the USA.

2. The Big Media starts blogging

In general, the Finnish blogosphere is still very personally oriented and there are relatively few political, current issues, journalistic or activist blogs though some media companies (newspapers, magazines and broadcasters as well) has started publishing blogs lately.

The media companies in Finland are finding their way to the Blogsphere. During September and October many new journalistic blogs has been created by big media companies. Few mentions:

• The biggest national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has launched 8 blogs. One of them is a blog about making the feature about blogging and one of the latest is the editor’s blog.
• One of the biggest newspapers, Aamulehti, has launched a site based on blogs. This site support newspapers weekly supplement Valo which tells what is happening in the city.
• One of the biggest weekly magazines, Apu, published by the company I work for, has launched its first blog.
• Yle, Finnish Broadcasting Company, has launched metablog and has started podcasting.

Link to the previus newsletter about Blogsphere in Finland: Citizen Journalism and Blogs in Finland (15.06.2005)

About Media=blogi

Media=blogi is the blog about blogging, citizen journalism, internet as media and the future of journalism. It’s written by me, Matti Lintulahti, professional journalist and development director of Finnish media company, A-lehdet Oy. I have journalistic experience from newspapers, magazines and online media since 1987 and I have hold different positions from the staff writer to the editor-in-chief. Media=blogi is written in Finnish to Finnish audience. Now and then I will write English summaries to international audience about citizen journalism and blogs in Finland.

1. Experimental Citizen Journalism in Rural Finland

Nopola News is the extraordinary experiment of citizen journalism in rural Finland. It wasn’t started by professional journalists or start-up entrepreneurs like many citizen journalism projects in the world. Instead it was started at May 2005 by the local municipal council and numerous local associations to support local community in a declining Finnish countryside.

Nopola News is the web magazine written and edited by the inhabitants of Kyyjärvi, a very small rural town of 1 739 citizen in the countryside of Finland. There is already about 50 contributors and, according to Nopola News, in the future there will be nearly 100 reporters writing stories for Nopola News, over 5 % of the inhabitants of Kyyjärvi. That must be the world record.

According to Nopola News, the goal of this project is that all essential information can be found in the web magazine, whether it is current affairs, bargains, events, meeting calls, family news, foreign news, municipal decisions, stomach aches etc: “The list is endless. By linking the events guide with bargains in local enterprises we provide a unique marketing channel for companies and organisations. In the future we will surely see interesting connections between these different quarters.”

The second part of Nopola News is a web radio with live broadcasts. Via the web radio you can, for example, listen to council meetings, church services, sport commentaries etc. The broadcasts will be recorded digitally and they can be listened to afterwards as well.

More information about Nopola News: Nopola News info in English.

2. Over 100 000 Blogs has been created in Finland

Over 100 000 blogs has been created in Finland,  population 5,2 million.  Blogging is a new phenomenon in Finland and most of the blogs were created during the last 10 months even though the pioneer Finnish blogs were created in 2002.  In general, the Finnish blogosphere is very personally oriented and there are relatively few political, current issues, activist, journalistic or metablogging blogs.

These are the latest figures (at the end of May 2005) how many blogs has been created in Finland. The numbers for MSN, Live Journal and Vuodatus.net I have asked directly from the companies.

    * MSN Spaces Finland: 76 082 blogs
    * Live Journal Finland: 17 217 blogs
    * Vuodatus.net: 907 blogs
    * Estimate others: 10 000 blogs (mostly Movable Type, Word Press, Blogger.com and universities)

About those 100 000 blogs one third are somehow active but this is a rough estimate based on studies published in the USA.

More information about Finnish blogosphere: LoicLeMeur Wiki

About Media=blogi

Media=blogi is the blog about blogging, citizen journalism, internet as media and the future of journalism. It’s written by me, Matti Lintulahti, professional journalist and development director of Finnish media company, A-lehdet Oy. I have journalistic experience from newspapers, magazines and online media since 1987 and I have hold different positions from the staff writer to the editor-in-chief. Media=blogi is written in Finnish to Finnish audience. Now and then I will write English summaries to international audience about citizen journalism and blogs  in Finland.