Who needs wisdom when you can have data? FP2P 2012 blogstats and most-read posts

Welcome back, Happy New Year to all etc. As everyone else is doing it, I thought I’d repeat last year’s exercise of kicking off the year with a look back at this blog’s stats and highlights for 2012. First the numbers:

Hyperventilation Friday – winning ‘best organizational blog 2011′

I know I’ve been a bit rude about the contrived acronym of the ABBAs (Aid Blogger’s Best Awards), but I just want to say that I think it’s an incredibly rigorous and accurate reflection of opinion in the online development community. This has nothing to do with the fact that this blog just won one of the categories – best organizational blog. Here’s the commentary from Tom Murphy, ABBA host and the thinking wonk’s Ricky Gervais:

“The heavy hitters came out in full force with a race between the Center for Global Development, the World Bank and Oxfam (UK). Two group blogs against Duncan Green’s From Poverty to Power ended in the triumph of the individual.

Center for Global Development – 27.8%
USAID Impact – 2.8%
Oxfam UK (From Poverty to Power) – 31.8%
Peace Dividend Trust – 3.4%
CGAP – 4.7%
Global Voices by American Jewish World Service – 12.5%
World Bank Development Impact – 17.0%

What stands out is that the blogs are of a much more academic bent. There were no nominations for blogs from the big NGOs. FP2P is an exception of sorts, but it is largely Green’s wonky musings that make it much more similar to CGD and Development Impact. This illustrates what I have observed to be a gap between the social media community represented by these nominees and the traditional NGO world.

Looking at the ABBAs as a whole, there are very few NGOs represented. That is in part due to the half where I reside which then has an impact on who this is reaching [no, I don't know what he's on about either], but it also shows that there is a significant audience who does not care for or is unimpressed by what NGOs are offering through social media.

There are people who crave understanding more and getting into the wonky debates that are not limited to academics. Practitioners participate in the space just as fluidly, but are nearly always in a personal capacity. What links the nominees in this category is that they talk less about their organization and more about aid and development at large. FP2P and PDT talk about themselves from time to time, but their bread and butter posts are looking at the industry. Is it possible that is why people go to read the blogs by these organizations?”

Heartfelt thanks to Tom, all those who voted for FP2P and to Oxfam for giving me the space to do this (and putting up with the occasional own goal…). As for the rest of the acceptance speech, I leave it in the euphoric hands of Cuba Gooding Jr at the Oscars. Mental.

And here’s some Abba. Worth it for the flares and stack heels.

Still to come, best overall blog, where FP2P was also shortlisted, but I reckon Chris Blattman has that one sewn up.

Update: yep, Blattman cruised home in the overall best aid-blog-in-English vote, but at least this blog came a distant second. Results here. He teaches, he has a new baby. How many Chris Blattmans are there? It’s time we were told.

What do readers think of this blog? Results of audience survey

Executive wonku (see below):
Lots of folk like it
but want fights, shorter posts and
more southern voices

Wow. As promised here are the results of the online survey of users of this blog, crunched by the amazing elves in Oxfam’s market research department. Just as well, as the response was far greater than I ever anticipated – 266 completed questionnaires, and a pile of really useful suggestions. In the spirit of transparency etc etc, here are the summary powerpoint and full collection of comments. Happy digging.

Here’s the headlines, plus my running commentary. And please remember throughout that this is a self-selecting sample of ‘people with time and willingness to fill in surveys’, and so may not fully represent the monumental indifference of the full range of readers. First, the stats

Who reads it (and answers surveys)? The top 3 types of blog reader are

‘Academic/students’ (28%), ‘other (i.e. non Oxfam) NGO staff’ (22%) and ‘other’ (18%). The ‘other’ responses were generally consultants and researchers. Oxfam staff make up 16% of the blog readership. The male/female split is 54/46, (more balanced than I feared, given heavy male bias of bloggers on development).

Main age range of respondents is 25-34.

Most of you read the blog 1-3 times a week (52%) or more than 4 times a week (34%).

78% of you describe the blog as ‘very useful’ or ‘slightly useful’. Why did the rest of you bother to take the survey? And as for the 1% who find it ‘not useful at all’, I think you three saddoes need to think about how you spend your time.

The majority of readers (81%) think that the amount I blog at the moment is ‘about right’ and (74%) think that it is successful in ‘provoking debate and conversation about development issues’.

You prefer ‘original articles’ (1.61), ‘summaries of other research’ (2.68) and ‘summaries of Oxfam research’ (3.5) more than other post topics. Thought so – the more work required from me, the more you like it. Sadists.

The other blogs you read are Chris Blattman, Aid Watch and Owen Barder. However 12.7% of YOU only read the FP2P blog (check out the blogroll to the right, guys – it’s worth it).

And some of the most useful comments?

1. The posts are too long! Sorry folks, will try and do some shorter ones, but also a very good suggestion to provide a one sentence summary of the main ‘takeaway’ at the top of the longer pieces. I might even do it as a wonku – see top of this post.

2. More voices and experiences from the South. Yep, you’re right. Except when I travel (and I’m off to Vietnam next week, so expect some stuff from there), it’s all a bit too DFID, World Bank, northern academic and Oxfam HQ in tone. Could readers please help by pointing me to the best alternative sources? And you NGO-ers, I’m looking to you for some help with this. Ditto for volunteers and suggestions for guest bloggers, especially from the South.

3. I should a) be more controversial and b) respond to comments. There are limits on my willingness to pick fights, however entertaining, partly due to my wimpy temperament and partly by this being an Oxfam-hosted blog (though not always an on-message one). Responding to comments is always a good idea, it’s just the time issue, but I will try and be more interactive in future (maybe I can use the time freed up by writing shorter posts).

4. Excavating the archive a bit more: people want to be able to explore past content, what’s been most popular etc. Will talk to blogmaster Eddy about that and a number of the other technical suggestions and beefs.

5. Translate it into Spanish? No need – my opposite number at Oxfam Intermon in Spain, Gonzalo Fanjul, is up and blogging (and is much cleverer and funnier than I could ever be)

As for the person who wants me to provide ‘more critical analysis of OGB material’ – nice try, but it ain’t gonna happen on this blog. Sorry.

An enormous thanks to everyone who took the time to fill it in – I will do my best to make it worth your while by listening to the suggestions. Starting with today’s executive wonku. But not the short post. Sorry.