The Fortune 500 and Blogging: Slow and Steady

Conducted By: Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., Eric Mattson CEO, Financial Insite

Each year Fortune Magazine compiles a list of America’s largest corporations. The list includes publicly and privately held companies for which revenues are publicly available. The Fortune 500 is a definitive list of the country's largest (by revenue) and most influential companies. A company's fall in rank on the list could indicate or reflect problems for the company or its industry, and a move up the list generally signals good news. The Fortune 500 is often viewed as a list of America’s most admired companies.

This study examined the 2008 Fortune 500 list in an attempt to quantify the adoption of social media by identifying those with public-facing blogs. Similar work has been done with the Inc. 500, US colleges and universities and the Fortune Magazine’s list of the 200 largest charities.

As social media becomes more integral to the business function, we should see evidence of it in the use of blogs, podcasts, Twitter or other tools. Given that the Fortune 500 stand as a model for business success, it is interesting to examine their involvement in the social media arena.

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