In March, PRmoment published latest findings showing that social networks, far from threatening established media, feed it with news. Press Index have updated this report and the findings are clear - social media mentions within the printed press are increasing. So do we conclude in delicious irony that social media sells papers?

Comparing coverage from 1 May to 31 May with results from January, shows that social media coverage is bigger news than ever. Looking at mentions of the dominant networks in UK print media, 39 per cent of titles cited Facebook at least once, and 42 per cent mentioned Twitter – increases of 2 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

Social media mentions in the printed press:

Manuel Zebeida, spokesman for media intelligence specialist Press Index and developer of search engine Pickanews, believes that the intensified discussion of Twitter is testament to its ability to make and break stories: “The network courted controversy during the super-injunction scandal, as the media called for it to take action against users who had apparently broken British law by Tweeting information protected by injunctions. The story provided the site with its busiest ever day of UK traffic – one in every 200 web visits went to Twitter.com as people tried to identify the celebrities covered by gagging orders – and coverage across Europe.”

Social media mentions by media type:

Looking across Europe, Zebeida says that print mentions of Twitter increased at the expense of Facebook. As the super-injunction story raised the profile of the site, it overtook its Palo Alto rival as the most discussed social network in the Spanish and UK press.

Mentions in printed press by social media brand

Closer to home, at the end of May, South Tyneside Council took Twitter to court and obtained the identity of a user behind allegedly libelous statements. Zebeida says: “Stories like this meant that regional newspapers continued to account for more mentions of social networks than their national counterparts. LinkedIn continued to receive most coverage in the trade press, as its productivity focus makes it a relatively niche offering. Again, it generated the most coverage in the UK, where it enjoys greater penetration than in the other monitored countries, especially France, where native rival Viadeo received the majority of its mentions.”

According to Zebeida, while LinkedIn and Viadeo will remain of specialist interest, he expects the dominant social networks to become increasingly important to established media. As Twitter in particular proves itself as a broadcast medium capable of breaking news like the death of Osama bin Laden, it will become more and more the focus of print articles.

Zebeida concludes: “While stories will continue to surface on Twitter and Facebook, we still rely on big media to organise the buzz into a hierarchical news agenda. You can’t fully understand what people are talking about online without knowing what they are reading offline.”

Background

This study used data provided by www.pickanews.com. It covers 50,000 media sources, 9,567 for print titles in France, UK, Spain and Italy. Pickanews is a search engine from the Press Index Group that allows users to track coverage for current and prospective clients. Press Index is a provider of media intelligence across key European markets. For latest findings go to http://blog.pressindex.com.