Live+Journal



LiveJournal is a virtual community that blurs the line between blogging and social networking, where Internet users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. What sets LiveJournal apart from other blogging sites is its social networking features and self-contained community.

Users have a customizable, personal blog space in which to post message board-style public threads and each post may be open to comment responses by other LiveJournal users.

LiveJournal is also heavily built around Communities, which are open blogs of particular topics on which users post and comment. As such, LiveJournal is an //interest-driven social blogging network.//

LiveJournal has been described as an “isolated, close-knit community of bloggers…” using LiveJournal primarily “…as a social networking site. This blogging island is just barely in touch with the rest of the blogworld.” (Ornes) Perhaps LiveJournal’s most interesting attribute is that this large group of users has formed an exclusive, tightly-woven community sharing their passions.

**Statistics** (as of 11/18/2010)
 * 28.4 million Accounts, of which 1.8 million see regular activity.(Doolan, Statistics)
 * 29 million Unique Visitors Monthly, of which 15 million are in the U.S. (Coureas)

**Advertising**

Part of LiveJournal’s original ethos was to stay advertisement free. However, in April 2006, LiveJournal introduced a new setup that splits users into ad-free paid accounts and ad-supported free accounts.

As such, LiveJournal employs a fairly conservative approach with //traditional internet display advertising// composed primarily of Rich Media ads and banners within most pages, road-block video ads, and email inserts.

Alternatively, LiveJournal also employs “Sponsored Communities” that are used by companies to post information about various products or services relevant to their business. Sponsored Communities often get spotlights as well as organic views, but are always noted as a paid sponsor.

**Measurement**

LiveJournal partners with DoubleClick’s DART for publishers to deliver targeted media based on Demographics, Geography, Interest Categories, and Declared Language.(Doolan, Sales)

** Reasons for Use as Advertising Vehicle **

LiveJournal advertising leverages the same core strength that attracts users to the site: interests. LiveJournal advertisers can utilize coveted community psychographic data along with traditional demographic and geographic targets. (Coureas)

LiveJournal by nature contains thousands of niche communities visited by millions of users with common, defined interests – a.k.a. The Long Tail. Strategies using the Long Tail model can be easily applied to meet advertising objectives.

LiveJournal users are a large group of a very specific demographic, so any advertising messages are unlikely to be wasted on the wrong demographic.

Additionally, due to the relatively low ad clutter inherent in LiveJournal, users are more likely to pay attention to any advertising messages.

** Limitations **

LiveJournal’s users are primarily composed of a young generation that is characteristically resistant to advertising messages.

Additionally, LiveJournal advertising retains the same weaknesses of traditional internet display advertising.

** Costs **

(Coureas)

** Reach/Frequency **

LiveJournal advertising has the potential for worldwide reach as is inherent in online content. Any organic search may turn up a LiveJournal blog, as LiveJournal users often blog about popular topics. Additionally, blogs tend to be read by repeat visitors.


 * Statistics** (as of 11/18/2010)


 * 350 million page views monthly, of which 175 million are in the U.S. (Coureas)
 * 8 million unique visitors monthly (Doolan, Sales)
 * 15 million Ad Impressions seen daily, of which 7.5 million are in the U.S. (Coureas)

** Scheduling **

LiveJournal advertising is capable of any scheduling pattern, as is inherent in online content.

** Impact **

Because of the traditional nature of the internet advertising employed, it is safe to assume the impact of the advertising follows suit with any advertising in its class.

However, the sponsored communities seem to have successfully created community outreach and gotten users involved with their products.

** Audience **

LiveJournal users are a wide array of young, creative, artistic, and trend-setting individuals looking to share common interests, meet new friends, and express themselves.(Doolan, About Us) They are most interested in community connections fostering their creativity, and they are also strongly immersed in entertainment, travel, politics, fashion, and gaming.(Coureas)

An average LiveJournal user:
 * Spends 22 minutes per session
 * Has 20 friends
 * Has at least 88 entries in his/her journal
 * Has at least 15 new entries per month
 * Has maintained his/her journal for at least 20 months

(Coureas)

** Response **

Although there was a whirlwind of controversy surrounding LiveJournal’s decision to support advertising in 2006, there seems to be general acceptance of advertising with 7.5 million ad impressions daily in the U.S. (Coureas)

** Other Interesting Qualities **

LiveJournal is the leading blog platform on the Russian internet, home to half of the 3.8 million Russian blogs(TOL), and has been called “…the only platform for free speech in Russia.” (Bush)

** Advertisers **

A plethora of advertisers are using LiveJournal advertising with 7.5 million ad impressions daily, including Sprint, Google, and Chevrolet.



** See Also **

@Advertising on Blogs

@Blogger Outreach

References

Ornes, S. (2007). MAP: WELCOME TO THE BLOGOSPHERE. //Discover//, //28//(5), 22. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

TOL (2009). A Tightly Knit Internet Community. //Transitions Online//, 6. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Bush, J. (2008). The Blogging Czar Of Moscow. //BusinessWeek//, (4072), 66-67. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Doolan, Lee (2010). Statistics. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from: http://www.livejournal.com/stats.bml

Doolan, Lee (2010). Sales. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from: http://www.livejournalinc.com/sales.php

Doolan, Lee (2010). About Us. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from: http://www.livejournalinc.com/aboutus.php

Coureas, Justin (2010) LiveJournal Media Kit. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from: http://www.livejournalinc.com/sales.php