How Does Perez Do It?: Evaluating Tabloid News Transparency and Credibility in the Blogosphere

Abstract

The effect that blogger transparency has upon credibility evaluations of a weblog and Web blogger were tested. Two hundred and sixty-five university students were surveyed regarding their credibility evaluations of celebrity blogs and the blogger Perez Hilton. A transparency manipulation was included in half of the surveys, providing respondents with background information on Hilton. Comparisons were then made between the credibility evaluations of those who had access to background information regarding the blogger and those who did not. Results showed that background information did not significantly influence respondent rating of blogger credibility, while others factors such as time spent online, did affect credibility ratings. Limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed.