Newswise – Seven out of 10 journalists investigated in the Newswise study had user profiles on LinkedIn, and 42% of them responded to requests to connect via the social networking site. Among the journalists who replied to the survey, 75% confirmed that they use LinkedIn and gave detailed responses about their attitudes and perceptions of the value of social networking. In spite of this widespread participation, a majority of respondents indicated that the value of LinkedIn was unclear.
In analyzing journalists' ambivalent attitudes about LinkedIn, a significant number of respondents had difficulty with the fundamental process of connecting with others on the site. Only 30% of respondents were able to accurately identify and share the address to their own personal profile.
Among journalists with LinkedIn profiles, only 1 in 4 respondents expressed an opinion about the value of social networking in general, with 13% finding value, and 12% finding none. The remaining 75% were undecided or neutral. In other words, 88% of LinkedIn users had found value or were neutral about the value of social networking.
Comparing LinkedIn users with non-users, the negative attitudes among journalists on LinkedIn were lower than those who did not have a profile. Among non-users, 61% responded with negative attitudes about social networking.
With a majority of journalists already participating in LinkedIn, the 88% of journalists surveyed that either had found value or at least had not formed a negative opinion about social networking are a positive sign of journalists being open to finding more uses out of social media. And, those who had yet to try social networking were more likely to have a negative opinion without actually experiencing it for themselves. These findings help to identify three areas for improvement in how Newswise uses social networking to interact with journalists:
1. Easier connections2. Demonstrating value to those already participating3. Enticing non-users to give social networking a try
Newswise President and founder Roger Johnson said, “the study demonstrates that journalists are participating on Linkedin, have not yet experienced value, but are receptive to new tools there.”
The full text of the study can be found at http://newswise.com/ee/journalists_on_linkedinAbout NewswiseNewswise is based on state-of-the-art technology for delivering news to journalists who subscribe (free) to the service. Newswise seeks to foster the best relationship with journalists by providing highly credible content and allowing journalists choice in the method and timing of delivery and the selection of content. News contributors are innovative, influential organizations world-wide, including top medical schools, universities, research institutions, public relations firms, government agencies, non-profit organizations, associations and advocacy groups. Anyone interested in knowledge-based news can register for Newswise and subscribe to the email wires.
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