Nielsen Wire Reports New Media Integrates With Old (Geeks everywhere are unsurprised.)

Date: July 10, 2009; Discussion: 0 Comments

Nielsen Wire recently published a blog entry about the overwhelming online response to Michael Jackson’s death and public memorial. They report that, on the 25th of June, Jackson’s death was the subject of nearly 8% of all online conversations they were tracking; his public memorial on the 7th of July was the topic of nearly 3% of online discussions that day. As interesting as that is, and as possibly faulty as Nielsen’s online tracking methods may or may not be, it was another part of the article that I thought should get some attention.

“While events like the Jackson memorial, or the Obama inauguration are unique, the way consumers are multitasking between media is quickly becoming the norm,” says Charles Buchwalter, Senior Vice President, Research & Analytics, Nielsen Online. “Even as recently as five years ago, the only choice for community was to gather around the TV screen with co-workers or friends for major events. Now, there are three screens to choose from and, as our research shows, online activity actually reinforces TV viewing. So when outlets like CNN integrate their coverage with Facebook or MSNBC leans heavily on Twitter it demonstrates the public’s growing integrated use of TV, the web, and mobile for getting, and at times reporting, the news.”....Users watch the events of the day unfold on TV and online, often “tweeting” about the coverage offered by various media outlets. Since many were limited to watching coverage online while at work, Twitter featured frequent links and recommendations for live video feeds, most commonly CNN’s live feed with Facebook integration, followed by CBS News/Ustream, MSN, and MSNBC.

As my headline states, this little factoid comes as absolutely no surprise to those of us who live and breathe the web. We’re only surprised that it took the rest of you so long to catch on! Welcome to the 21st century.

People who believe that the internet will replace traditional media really have not paid close attention to the history of media or know very much about all the predictions concerning the death of the stage play, radio and now television. While some media does go the way of the dodo (I mean, really, when was the last time you used a phonograph?), it is a slow process, riddled by sociocultural, technological and legal issues. What happens, instead, is a slow takeover, where the majority of the big players don’t really die out; instead, they just adapt, as we adapt. And, of course, those who choose not to are usually the ones that get hit the hardest. (I’m looking at you, small town newspapers.)

We know that the tide has come in, that these technologies are integrated and will be as such for the foreseeable future, probably until they truly come together (well) into a single device. Rather than studying whether this is happening, or trying to prevent it, we need to be working out how to improve the quality not only of the technology, but also of the information that we’re consuming and mashing up from all these sources, both old and new. The new media tools that have become havens for citizen journalism and re-reporting have done so for a reason: traditional media was lacking something for many people.

The device integration that we’re experiencing today is just the beginning of the changes to come. While the online conversations spurred by Jackson’s death were highly notable, we should realize that the speed with which information travels now is only going to lead us to more events like this, where so many of us are aware of the same information and from many sources.

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