News today is a shared, social experience. Half of Americans say they rely on people around them to find out at least some of the news they need to know. 44% of online news users get news at least a few times a week through emails, automatic updates or posts from social networking sites
However, social media stories also differ greatly from each other. All three social platforms: blogs, Twitter and YouTube rarely share the same top story.
Social media is brief. Across all three social platforms, attention spans are also brief. Just as news consumers don’t stay long on any website, social media doesn’t stay long on any one story. On blogs, 53% of the lead stories in a given week stay on the list no more than three days. On Twitter that is true of 72% of lead stories, and more than half (52%) are on the list for just 24 hours.
This doesn’t mean traditional media will die. Its authority still carries huge weight, much more so than the individual social outlets. The fact of the matter is that the consumption of media is changing, and traditional media outlets will evolve to accommodate these changes.
The traditional media platform is starting to incorporate technology, moving it beyond its own confines to meet the reader’s environment. The most valuable PR will be a blend of both traditional and social media.
