ING GROEP : #SMING14 study: Use of social media stagnating. Use of news sites declining

This year in June we published our study on the impact of news among an international group of journalists and PR professionals. Today, for the third consecutive year, ING publishes the outcome of the social media impact survey among Dutch consumers.

• To what extent can trends be identified in consumer use of social and online media, the newsflow through various channels and the reliability and impact of reporting?
• What is the role of news apps on tablets and smartphones, and to what extent does the reliability and impact of this medium differ from other types of media?
• To what extent has consumers' online and offline behaviour changed as a result of social media?
• To what extent are there differences in the degree of reliability and impact of reports from the same source in different types of media and from different senders?

News is disseminated through various types of media. Where television and newspapers once were the primary news outlets, these days online, social and mobile media are key distributors of news. In this year's survey we also looked at news consumption via news apps for smartphones and tablets in addition to traditional, online and social media.. In addition, we conducted an experiment to gain better insight into the impact of the same report via different types of media (app, internet news site) and the same report from different senders.

1.   Use of Social Media stagnating. Facebook the most used platform shows a small increase compared to 2012.

Social media usage by Dutch consumers has remained virtually unchanged in the last three years, with small, insignificant fluctuations compared to previous years.

As in previous years Facebook is the most used social media platform and one of the few platforms to have registered a slight increase in usage over the past three years. In 2012 67% of respondents said they used Facebook on a weekly basis against 71% in 2014.

The use of Google+ showed a limited increase of 7% compared to 2013. As in 2013 young adults (aged 18-34) are more active on social media than adults (aged 35-54) and adults are moreactive on social media than seniors (over 55s).

Contrary to expectations social media usage by consumers did not increase in the 2012-2014 period; instead almost all platforms registered stagnation. Facebook remains the most used platform, with 71% using this medium every week. Facebook and Google+ were the only platforms to register slight increases in usage compared to 2012.

2.   Use of online news sites is declining. As in previous years online news sites are the most used online platforms.

As in previous years, online news sites are the most used online media. Compared to previous years there is a significant decline in the use of online news sites (from 63% weekly usage in 2012, to 56% in 2013 and 52% in 2014).

Online news sites are used the most, followed by newspaper websites (50%), with this medium also displaying a slight decline. Adults (aged 35-54) make more frequent use of these news sources than young adults (aged 18-34).

As in previous years, review sites, blogs and forums are used less compared to online news sites and newspaper websites (23%, 16% and 16% use these online media channels on a weekly basis).

3.   News apps are an important means of news consumption. 1 in 2 young adults use news apps at least one a week.

In light of the widespread use of smartphones and tablets many newspapers and news sources have launched apps to enable users to follow the news. Given the important role of these apps in news consumption the medium has been added to the survey.

Almost half of Dutch consumers use a news app on a smartphone or tablet on a monthly basis, 43% do so on a weekly basis. A clear distinction can be seen here between the various age
categories. Young adults (18-34) make more frequent use of news apps on a smartphone or tablet (55%) than seniors (over 55s, 29%).

Pay-per-view news sites such as Blendle and De Correspondent are included in the survey for the first time this year. However, it would seem that these platforms are still relatively unknown, with just 7% of respondents saying they use this medium on a weekly basis. 9% do so on a monthly basis and 91% never use pay-per-view news sites.

4.   Consumption of news via online and social media sites is stable. A quarter of Dutch consumers using social media never comes in contact with news via social media.

Compared to 2013, the number of consumers who get their news via online and social media is stable.

As in 2013, the majority of consumers regularly come into contact with news reports via online and social media, with 66% of consumers having weekly contact with news reports on online media and 58% on social media. It is noteworthy that just over a quarter (27%) of consumers never come into contact with news via social media. For online media the figure is 18%.

The 2013 survey already showed that the frequency with which people come into contact with news on online or social media increases in line with how often the medium is used. Given the limited changes in consumers' online and social media usage it is no surprise that the contact with news via these channels is stable.

5.   Social media are the least reliable reports on news & current affairs. Background programmes on TV and newspapers are considered the most reliable. Followed by more transient media such as news apps and online news sites.

The reliability of different kinds of media has remained stable compared to previous years. As in 2012 and 2013, traditional media are considered most reliable, followed by online media and finally social media.

The level of reliability of various types of media is measured on a scale of 1 (not at all reliable) to 7 (very reliable). With a score of 4.9 traditional media are therefore considered to some extent reliable for the dissemination of news. This means that trust in the media in general is fairly low.

Reports on news and current affairs read on a news app are considered just as reliable as news reports on traditional media such as television and radio.

It is noteworthy that news reports on online media (4.3) are considered less reliable than reports on news apps. This can be explained by the fact that forums and review sites are also included in the online media category. These media have a lower reliability level. If only online news sites and newspaper websites are considered, reliability for these types of online media is the same as for news apps and traditional media.

6.   Informative television, newspapers, news sites and news apps have the most impact. The more reliable the medium, the greater the impact.

As in previous years informative television programmes are considered the most impactful medium for disseminating news, followed by newspapers, newspaper websites and online news sites. News apps achieve a score comparable to online news sites and informative radio stations.

News consumed via informative television programmes and newspapers is considered 3.5 times more impactful than news via social media. The difference has narrowed from last year when traditional media were still considered to have five to six times the impact.

Pay-per-view news sites achieve a relatively low score in the 2014 rankings. This is due to the fact that many are still unfamiliar with the medium, with 91% of respondents saying they never use pay-per-view news sites.

There is a clear link between the degree of reliability and the extent to which a medium is considered to be impactful, with the general rule being: the more reliable the medium, the greater the impact.

To compile these rankings respondents were repeatedly presented with three different types of media and asked to state which they considered the most impactful and which the least. The results were used to compile an index score based upon which the various types of media could be ranked.

7.   Media impact stable versus 2013. Online news sites and news apps have the most impact on knowledge, attitude and behaviour.

As in 2013 all types of media have an impact on knowledge, attitude and behaviour. There have been no visible developments in the degree of impact of the various media*.

Online news sites have the most impact on consumers' knowledge (35%), attitude (21%) and behaviour (18%). Like last year, the impact of peer platforms, such as review sites and forums, is lowest.

As the reliability of news apps is comparable to that of online news sites, the same applies to the degree of impact. Of the respondents, 37% said that reports on news apps impact on their knowledge, with a figure of 25% for attitude and 22% for behaviour. The impact of news apps is greater for young adults, mainly because they use the medium more frequently.

8.   1 of 3 consumers act on news more actively due to social media. The more frequent the contact with news via social media, the stronger the impact on behaviour.

Social media encourage curiosity, sharing, interpretation and dialogue. Two out of five consumers who regularly come into contact with news act more actively on news on social media.

Thanks to social media people follow news more actively, talk more (both offline and online) about news and are more active in sharing news and current affairs as well as their own opinions on news and current affairs.

The more frequently a consumer comes into contact with news social media, the stronger the impact on their behaviour.

It is noteworthy that people are more inclined to speak offline about news and current affairs as a result of social media (42%) than online (38%).

9.   Type of medium influences reliability and impact. Tweets considered least impact-full and least reliable.

An important question is whether the type of medium through which consumers access news is key to the degree of reliability and impact. Is a tweet from the Dutch public broadcaster NOS judged differently from an NOS news report that is read on a news app or watched on the TV news? Another interesting question is whether the same news report but from a different sender has a different degree of reliability and impact.

Although the medium should not make a difference to the degree of reliability or impact, our survey shows that a news report on Twitter is considered less reliable and less impactful than the same report on mobile, traditional or online media. Twitter is the most transient channel out of these types of media; it is often where news appears first but news is also more often retracted as more facts emerge.

The difference can also be explained using the results of last year's survey, from which it emerged that reports are more convincing, believable and impactful if they come with a context. It goes without saying that there is more room for this on an online news site, the TV news, in a newspaper article or with a news report on a smartphone app than in a tweet.

That means that to increase impact it is important that consumers are encouraged in tweets to read the underlying report.

10.   Sender determines reliability and impact. Tweets displaying the original source are the most reliable and impactful

The reliability of a tweet is strongly influenced by its sender, with an original tweet or retweet considered most reliable.

These findings confirm the results of the 2013 survey, which showed that a sender's expertise is key to the reliability and impact of a tweet

In June 2014 we also published an #SMING14 study on the impact of news among an international group of journalists and PR professionals. The full report of that study is also available in this .

distributed by