Every political campaign these days needs a full-blown strategy on how to reach voters through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media outlets.
It’s no accident, for instance, that President Obama has more than 39 million likes on Facebook, and this helped him deliver messages and raise money during the campaign against Mitt Romney. Or that political operatives start Twitter fights and hope their hashtags will go viral.
Journalists have also become heavily reliant on social sharing to promote their work and become part of a vibrant conversation.
But a new study by the Pew Research Center, out today, demonstrates the limitations of these powerhouse sites.
Mark Zuckerberg’s creation has the broadest reach, with 64 percent of American adults saying they use Facebook, and nearly half of them — 30 percent — saying they get news from the site.
YouTube reaches 51 percent of adults, but only 10 percent say it’s a source of news.
Twitter is used by 16 percent of adults, and 8 percent say they get news from the tweets.
Much further down are Google Plus (4 percent get news there), LinkedIn (3 percent), Reddit (2 percent), Instagram, MySpace and Tumblr (1 percent).
But even on Facebook, Pew finds that most folks aren’t looking there for news. In fact, 78 percent of those who find news on the site say they just bump into it while on Facebook for other reasons. They could be posting baby pictures or checking on an ex-girlfriend.
When they do get news, 73 percent are finding stories or links about entertainment, 65 percent about their community, 57 percent about sports, and 55 percent about national government and politics.
But sharing is key to spreading the word. Half say they have reposted news, pictures or video, while 14 percent are doing the citizen journalism thing by putting up pictures they took of a news event (and 12 percent posting original video).
via Politicians trying to recruit friends on Facebook and Twitter: It’s complicated | Fox News.
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