How Social Media is Reshaping News

481489797About a third of people in the United States prefer to get headline news throughout the day, according to American Press Institute, and they use a variety of devices to learn the news. Social media helps these Americans get the news they want, when they want to learn it, and in a format that fits their lifestyle. Many small businesses hire a press release writing service to help them capture the attention of all these news-hungry Americans.

Most people get their news directly from a news organization, such as a television newscast, newspaper, or news website. A growing number of people – 44 percent – get their news from social media.

Most Americans use multiple devices and technologies to learn the news, including television, laptop computers or tablets, radio, newspapers and magazines. Fifty-six percent of American adults say they use a cell phone to get the news while 29 percent say they used a laptop or tablet.

Facebook is the primary provider of news on social media. About two-thirds of American adults use Facebook, according to Pew Research Center, and about half of all Facebook users get their news there. This means about 30 percent of the U.S. population gets their news from Facebook.

YouTube and Twitter are also powerhouses in the news business. About half of all Americans use YouTube and about one-fifth get their news there, which amounts to about 10 percent of the U.S. population. Sixteen percent of Americans use Twitter and half of the site’s users get their news there, which means about 8 percent of Americans get their news in 140 characters or less.

Social Media is Reshaping News by Making it Sharable

Unlike television, radio, and newspapers, social media presents an opportunity for readers to take an active role in sharing and analyzing the news. Half of all social media users say they have shared news stories, images, and videos. This “sharability” creates a sense of participation and personal engagement in the news process. Each person that shares a news story feels connected to it in a very personal and intimate way.

This shareability also makes social media the perfect platform to promote business. Many successful small and medium businesses use a press release writing service to promote goods and services on social media. These marketing experts can create a social media press release that complements your business and presents it in a medium that allows readers to share and broadcast the information. They know that the faster, easier, and more creatively you can get your message across, the more likely your readers will pick up, share, like, and re-tweet it. A press release writing service will also incorporate those all-important keywords into your news story to boost your ranking on search engine results.

A press release writing service staffs professionals who create content that rises above the white noise of news flooding social media channels. Reach a wider news-hungry audience by issuing press releases on social media outlets.

Lynn H is a freelance writer available for projects at WriterAccess.