Study: Facebook changing the way people communicate, hear about news

By Chris Hogg

As media, marketers and PR professionals work to understand more about how content consumption habits are changing in digital media, Facebook has continued to emerge as a dominant player.

The social network says it boasts a membership of more than 500 million active members, 50 percent of whom log-in each day. The average user creates 90 pieces of content each month, and the average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events.

As Facebook grows, its footprint as a platform for content discovery grows with it and according to a study (PDF) published by Abacus Data, widespread Facebook usage in Canada is changing how citizens consume content and learn about news around them.

The Ottawa-based market research firm says nearly 75 percent of Canadians now maintain a Facebook account, and while more than 90 percent of millennials (those aged 18-29) have a Facebook account, well over half of adults 60 and up do as well.

According to the study, about 60 percent of people older than 60 identify themselves as Facebook users; nearly 70 percent of people between the ages of 45 and 59 say their on Facebook; almost 80 percent of those aged 33 to 44 are on the social network; and 91 percent of millennials have a Facebook account.

“It’s very common to hear of a generational gap in social media use, but these results show that that gap is more of a gradient – the real gap is in how the different generations use social media,” Alex Monk, a strategist at Abacus Data and author of the report, said in a news release. “Membership is one thing, but the critical data is how people use their Facebook accounts.”

The study says the younger the person, the more likely they are to use Facebook often. To investigate how different generations use Facebook, researchers conducted an online survey with 1,362 Canadians in December 2010 and asked them how they were most likely to hear about a newsworthy or important event within their circle of friends. Results showed Facebook is a primary source of news discovery.

“Nearly half of millennials first hear about noteworthy events within their social circles via Facebook, while only 13 percent hear by phone and 8 percent by email,” said Monk. “That’s what makes the millennial generation so different from the others.”

In contrast, more than 50 percent of people ages 45 to 59 and those over 60 were most likely to hear about a noteworthy event within their circle of friends by phone. That said, older generations are not cut off from technology as a means of communication, as nearly 30 percent of respondents older than 60 said they were most likely to hear of noteworthy events via email.

Brand advocates and marketers are flocking to Facebook because of its active user base, especially among younger generations. Businesses are creating content just to be shared via the social network, communication between brands and customers is more transparent and studies show millennials prefer to interact with brands in a digital space.

Citing forecasts from eMarketer, RICG says, “Businesses are expected to spend $1.7 billion on Facebook marketing in 2011, an increase of $500 million over 2010.”

To understand more about who uses Facebook, Abacus researchers also looked into background information such as level of education, geography and age. “One may hypothesize that Facebook is used nearly exclusively by young people and students, as its origins can be traced to university and college campuses,” the study notes. “However, the idea of student-exclusive use quickly evaporates when membership is broken down by level of education.”

The survey showed 70 percent of people with post-graduate or higher education use Facebook; 78 percent of those with a Bachelor’s degree are on the social network; and 76 percent of those with “some” university or college are on Facebook:

In Canada, Facebook use by geography breaks down fairly evenly across the country. Atlantic Canada sees the highest level of Facebook users at 80 percent of the population. Other provinces break down as follows: Quebec (75%), Ontario (72%), Central Canada (69%), Alberta (74%) and British Columbia (75%).

Abacus Data says the key difference between older generations and millennials with Facebook is usage patterns. ”It’s one thing to have a Facebook account, but another to use it,” the study notes.

Researchers say millennials are much more involved in Facebook, with 50 percent checking their account multiple times per day and more than 80 percent checking at least once daily. Among 30- to 44-year-olds, 67 percent check daily, while 58 percent of those aged 45-59 and 50 percent of people older than 60 checking daily.

Looking further into usage patterns, researchers asked respondents four statements about sharing information online to see how their usage and behaviour differs. The statements were: “Sharing any kind of personal information online is too much of a risk for me”; “I share selected personal information with my family and friends via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or a personal website”; “I readily share information. I am not concerned with privacy risks, as only my friends want to see what I share online”; and “I don’t use the internet for personal networking or social reasons.”

The trend with milliennials continued, as they were most likely to share information and most likely to be using social media. Older generations said they were not as likely to use social media and more likely to believe sharing information online is too risky. Researchers say this could be indicative of a fundamental, generational attitude difference.

“Among other things, sharing information online can be a sign of comfort with the Internet as a social medium, or as an acceptance of social networking as a means of keeping in touch with friends on a regular basis,” the study says.

Out of those surveyed, 75 percent of millennials share some info online, as they’re more comfortable with technology and Facebook is widely seen as just another natural means of communication.

The study concludes by saying: “A gap does exist between millennials and other generations, but not in the simple use of the Internet or other modern technologies. The use of Facebook as a natural extension for social communication is where a generational gap becomes evident. The prevalence of email use and Facebook membership among older generations suggests that they are active on the Internet; they communicate and share information via email. Real penetration of Facebook as a means of relaying meaningful information within a social circle, however, still seems to rest with millennials.”

An interview with Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton on the future of journalism

By David Silverberg

A crowdsourced copy editing project. An equation to track a news site’s user engagement. How “public-interest news can be more valuable to publishers than traffic bait.” These are some of the issues analyzed by Nieman Journalism Lab (NJL), born out of Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation. Just over two years old, the website tracks news in the evolving journalism industry, offering stories on how old media adapt to the digital era and what new projects are emerging from tech trailblazers and start-ups. What makes the Lab tick and what new ideas are exciting media observers?

We spoke to NJL director Joshua Benton, who says the Lab has expanded immensely since he joined as the sole writer after nabbing a 2007 Nieman Fellowship. Now staffed with four full-time writers, NJL has welcomed more than 80 writers to contribute content to the site, some steadily and some freelance.

A former reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Benton says NJL stories are designed to look at how journalism is maturing in today’s digital era. “In this journalism revolution, lots of people are doing lots of interesting things,” he said in a phone interview. “Some are happening deep within news organizations and others in one-person start-ups or within tech companies. We’re the common point of conversation for all those people.”

NJL tends to investigate stories you won’t find in your local daily or magazine. For instance, writer Justin Ellis profiled MuckRock, a site which aims to make FOIA requests effortless; an interview with a computer science professor looked at digital forensics and photojournalism; and Benton wrote an insightful post on the economics behind news site paywalls. NJL also features sections with news from around the Web relating to media and journalism trends.

Benton says the stories on NJL should help journalists and editors “inform their judgment” on the volatile media space. NJL’s purpose is altruistic, Benton notes. “Our goal is to do our part to help journalism evolve and succeed.”

NJL doesn’t track what a media site such as Poynter’s Romenesko would follow, such as layoffs and paper closures. Instead, their writers analyze how new startups or media projects will help journalists adjust to the new realities presented by social and digital media.

“Traditional news organization want to increase the size and loyalty of their online audience,” Benton says. “When you look at news outlets with substantial online audiences, the numbers aren’t analogous to the loyalty of having a daily newspaper delivered to your house every day. ”

Benton says editors have to rethink how they value online relationships with their readers.

What trends excite him and NJL? Benton said the burgeoning mobile space is positioned for major growth and he believes there’s great potential in news apps which create a “walled garden around content compared to the Web, where the competition is just one click away.”

Benton also says he supports user-generated media, which he views as part of the news ecosystem. That said, he believes large news organizations will still produce the lion’s share of journalism in 20 years. Also, Benton believes “amplification” is the biggest obstacle for citizen journalism and user-generated content. ”If someone writes something journalistic he needs to find a way for that work to reach an audience,” he says.

When asked about printed media’s role in the future of journalism, Benton says printing a paper is still a money-maker for many outlets but he’s not sure what newspapers will look like in 10 or 20 years.

“People who are 50 today aren’t going to give up their newspapers anytime soon, but in the future it won’t be the ideal tool for mass media distribution,” he says.

Benton would like to see a balance between the players in the tech world who believe they will learn nothing from old-school media, and newspaper executives who think the Net is one big crowd of “know-nothings.”

“Both those point-of-views are equally wrong,” he says.

Looking at the future of Benton’s own workplace, he hints the Nieman Journalism Lab will soon be getting into hosting conferences and may also look at creating “centralized resources or databases” but he was mum on details. And as NJL’s site programmer, Benton also points out there may be a redesign or a few tweaks coming in the near future.

For more information on the Nieman Journalism Lab visit their website or join the 33,000+ people who are now following Nieman Lab on Twitter.

Politico to add susbcription service, charging minimum $1,450 a year

By David Silverberg

Politico, a free news site focusing on Washington politics, will add a paid subscription service early next year, according to the New York Times. The news service will provide in-depth coverage of various hot topics such as health care, energy and technology. It will track what Congress, federal agencies, lobbyists and trade associations are doing on a given topic.

To access Politico Pro, subscribers will need to pay $1,495 to $2,500 a year for the first topic and $1,000 for each subsequent topic. Subscriptions for Congressional offices will begin at $1,495 and other users, such as lobbyists and government contractors, will pay at least $2,000. Politico.com, the main site providing 24/7 news, will remain free.

Later next year, Politico Pro plans  to cover the military industry, financial services and transportation. Politico plans to hire 50 more staffers to help run the operation.

Jim VandeHei, executive editor of Politico, said it relies on advertising in its print edition and Politico Pro will help keep the company afloat. “The idea is that we want to find multiple revenue streams so we can grow even bigger,” he told the Times.

Bloomberg is planning a similar project, which will combine political news coverage and government database info. Bloomberg Government Service will cost subscribers $5,700 annually.

Study: iPad users spend more time consuming news than iPhone users

By Chris Hogg

A study released today from Nielsen shows news and music are the most popular types of content consumed on the iPad. According to the study of “internet connected devices,” users spend ore time per session with news and music than users on the iPhone.

The survey of 5,000 consumers who own a tablet, eReader, netbook, media/games player or smartphone indicated 44 percent of iPad users say they access news content regularly. That is just behind the 53 percent who consume news regularly on their iPhone.

That said, it appears as though iPad users spend more time consuming news; the survey showed 26 percent of iPad users spend 31 minutes or more per weekday session consuming news, while only 7 percent of iPhone users  spend the same amount of time consuming news.

Some other key findings include:

• iPad users are younger, and mostly male compared to other connected devices; 65 percent are male and 65 percent are under 35 years of age (Kindle users are 52 percent male, with 47 percent being under 35, according to Nielsen).
• 46 percent of tablet users allow others to use their devices (only one-third of smartphone and eReader users do the same)

More people watch video and read magazines on the iPad compared to the iPhone:

iPad users are also more receptive to advertising and more likely to make a purchase:

The summary of the survey can be found online here (opens in PDF)

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Video spoof sheds light on journalism’s obsession with social media

By Chris Hogg

If you were to sit in on a meeting with the digital media team of any news organization, you’d hear discussion about Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, YouTube and just about every other hot tech start-up that is playing a role in redefining the media landscape.

While the benefits of using social media are obvious, there comes a point where we have to ask: How much is too much? How much should a news organization rely on social media in its newsgathering-process, and how much should the “old-school” methods be utilized to gather info? The answer depends on the news organization, but KDFW has produced a spoof video (below) that is going viral. The video pokes fun at social media obsession in newsgathering.

Posted to its Facebook page on Monday, the video pokes fun at every social media tool and journalism’s increasing obsession with each. Some of the video highlights include a reporter who doesn’t say a word on TV, instead choosing to share news by sending tweets from his mobile phone; it showcases a reporter taking a picture with a corpse so she can post it to her Facebook page; and a reporter who checks-in on FourSquare to get coupons while reporting on-scene.

According to the Dallas Observer, the video looks to have debuted at the Lone Star Emmys. Here it is:

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This blog post is part of the Future of Media‘s ongoing coverage and examination of what’s happening in the media around the world. If you have a story idea, please contact us. This blog post was originally posted on chrishogg.me.