Mediapost’s Center for Media Research covered a new study by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) and Middleberg Communications that shows how important social media has become for journalists of all ages – and especially so for younger reporters who fall into the ‘Millennial’ demographic (18-29 year-olds).

The study revealed the following key findings:
• 87% of 18-29 year-olds believe bloggers have become important opinion-shapers, versus 60% of 50-64 year-olds
• 87% of 18-29 year-olds confirm that new media and communications enhances the relationship with their audience, versus 42% of 50-64 year-olds
• 48% of all respondents use LinkedIn, and 45% use Facebook to assist in reporting
• 68% of all respondents use blogs to keep up on issues or topics of interest
• 86% of all respondents use company websites, 71% use Wikipedia, and 46% use blogs to research an individual organization

Nothing ground breaking revealed here, but it confirms what Topaz Partners and others knew at a time when Friendster was better known than Myspace and Facebook, and before Twitter even existed – that new media and technologies such as blogs, podcasts and RSS had ushered in a new era, not only for media consumption but also for anyone involved in the communications business. Now we can see the impact growing ever wider. It will be interesting to see what’s coming next.

Twitter seems to have emerged as an important resource for media and PR professionals to stay on top of breaking news. But what happened to Second Life? It was all the rage a few years ago. Topaz even conducted some media interviews for clients in Second Life. Now it seems to have faded into the background, a least from a business, PR or corporate communications perspective.

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Technorati Tags: Facebook, Friendster, Mediapost, Myspace, Second Life, SNCR, Social Media, Society for New Communications Research, Topaz Partners, Twitter