Monday, May 9, 2011

New report shows strength of news in driving online media consumers

Whoa! Stop the presses! Online viewers are drawn to stories about specific events!

OK, no more sarcasm. We know the strength of news. Online media consumers are no different from print or audio/video media consumers. They are attracted by big stories. Still, this Pew Report (here's a nice summary from Mark Walsh at Online Media Today) demonstrates the strength of this attraction.

One piece of news we should all be thinking about is the role of social media in driving viewers. As the report summary says, "Social media, however, and Facebook in particular, are emerging as a powerful news referring source. At five of the top sites, Facebook is the second or third most important driver of traffic." Google is tops. That means we in the professional media ignore social media at our own risk.

Read one or both of these reports to keep up on what's happening.

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