Must Read: 2010 Study Of Social Media Trends & Journalism

This online European research conducted by Cision Media Research is a must read for anyone connected to the media industry as it look at social media trends within this sector, informing us of the best practices within PR and communications. This research deepens our understanding of how journalists and professional communicators use and value social media, and its impact on their work. Cision linked with the University of Sunderland and selected the UK, France and Germany. 15,000 journalists of influence were invited to participate in this is annual social media trend survey, which took place this July

To ensure it was as reflective as possible Cision secured a fair distribution of work experience and media types. In the UK, most respondents were in the age groups of 24-34, 35-44 and a majority had been journalists for more than ten years; while in Germany most of the respondents fell in the age groups of 35-44, 45-54 and again the majority were long standing journalists of more than ten years. It was only France that showed a different picture with all age groups evenly represented with the majority being in journalism for more than ten years.

One of the principle finding of this survey is that it strongly shows that social media has established itself as a key working tool with over 80% of journalists in all three countries using it to source and promote their stories; and works alongside the more traditional working tools. For instance, though, many journalists like to use Wikipedia for fact checking, they will still validate and research through PRs. Interestingly, 70% of the journalists asked in all three places said that they still use traditional tools such as press releases, PRs and corporate websites as often today as they did three years ago; and that news and information delivered via any social media platform were considered not very 'reliable'.

The three social media trends named as important are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn across all territories. Though, Twitter takes a clear lead in the UK; Wikipedia in Germany and LinkedIn in France. More than 75% of journalists in all three countries use social media trends to publish, promote and distribute their content. 28% use social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, closely followed by micro blogging platforms such as Twitter with 26% and Blogs with 20%.

Unfortunately (and I say unfortunately as PR is my background) many journalists think that PRs don't understand how to use social media trends! Added to this is the surprising fact that PR experts seems to shy away from contacting journalists through social media platforms, as 70% of journalists reported that they 'Never' or only 'Occasionally' connect with PRs through this medium and that traditional ways of communicating are preferred, such as the old telephone call, which is popular. So, my final thought, I strongly believe that social media and PR are natural allies to each other. There are several PR rock stars who've adapted wonderfully to the new and exciting world of social media.

Photo Credit: Webtreats