Why Facebook matters : 60% of millennials get news there

Veteran publishing and tech journalist, Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) reports  that 61% of millennials now get their political news from Facebook.

Younger Internet users like to joke about how Facebook “is the new TV,” but in the case of political news consumption that appears to be literally true, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center for Media and Journalism. More than 60% of millennials who were surveyed said that during the previous week they got their political news from Facebook, compared with 37% who got it from TV.

For older members of the “Baby Boom” generation, meanwhile, those figures were almost exactly reversed: about 60 percent of that age group said they got most of their political news from local television, with about 39% saying they got it from Facebook (only 14% of millennials said they got political news from Twitter).

This graph shows the dramatic difference beween millennials and baby boomers in where thet receive their political news.

And this graph depicts the extent that Facebook has replaced television, local and national, in providing political news to a growing age group in this country.

What are the take aways for you as a lawyer or law firm?

• Facebook is becoming a signicant source of news and information for a growing number of Americans. It’s not just political news.
• Facebook ought to be viewed as a credible and important channel for your sharing insight and commentary on legal, business and current events.
• Facebook ought not be dismissed as just a place for the exchange of personal quips and photos.
• Through trial and error and observing what others do, you will need to develop a true understanding of how Facebook and its algorithms work.
• You’ll need to develop a Facebook strategy growing personal friendships and sharing insightful information the way others do on Facebook if you want the growing population who uses Facebook for news to get your commentary.

Continue to publish valuable insight and commentary on standalone sites and blogs. Just recognize, as major news publishers now using Facebook have, that the methods of distribution have changed and expanded.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Ted Eytan