ch ch ch changes

How times change. 

In a recent survey undertaken by Metrica  they note that public confidence in mainstream media is being restored – while, ironically blogs do not score very highly. Only 5% said that they trusted blogs, while on line forums scored even lower at 1%. This compares to 70% trusting main channel television.

Even national newspapers, yes even the nationals, Metrica note are up 17% to 43% in their UK Pulse Survey from last year.

So,  why the change? Metrica does not speculate ……instead they leave it up to us to debate!

Perhaps it’s because as we move to the internet for our immediate news, we now rely on newspapers to help formulate debate, for their comment articles, for the issues around the main news items?

So – why the fall in trust in blogs? Is it because many just reinforce their own views and provide little space for others? I have recently been working on a controversial issue. The insightful hatred expressed by some on line individuals actually backfired and worked in our favour as their outrageous and factually incorrect views helped turn public opinion against them. Not just because of the issue – but because of the appalling behaviour experienced online.

Yet, at the CIPR’s Northern Conference on Friday, social media was still seen as a key communications tool…….and so it should be. It’s important to have a mix, to keep all our stakeholders updated, to be strategic in our approach…..and as Metrica has highlighted, public opinion and trust can change dramatically…..even in a year.

Comments

[David Phillips]

This is delightful stuff.

Trust is something that changes with context and so understanding the context of the research would help our understanding of the findings. People do respond differently at different times, in different environments and with different forms for communication and using the values that are (often emotionally) affective at the time.

No doubt these considerations are part of the Metrica reports - methodology counts so much in these things.

As for the specifics, there is some reason to believe that some online trust elements are working well.

With online retails sales being such a large proportion of the economy these days, we had better hope it continues. A drop in confidence that ripped out 15% or more from the economy would not be good for PR.

So the question is this: If not blogs, what is delivering the present levels of confidence that are increasing onlibe sales at up to 30% per year?

Now, that would be interesting. Could it be that social media is working and working well. But that social media is not just blogging?

[Richard Bagnall]

Hi Lis,

Thanks for your interest in Metrica's UKPulse.

Further to David's comment I thought it would be useful just to clarify a couple of points.

UKPulse is a PR planning tool that is powered by a massive omnibus survey into all aspects of the lifestyles of the UK population. The research enables PR professionals to create key audiences and then interrogate their lifestyle, including their media consumption habits, to find out how best to reach them.

The trust question is just one of many that the survey asks. The specific question was: “I usually trust the following types of media for reliable information…”

Then listed are: TV, national newspapers, regional and local newspapers, national radio, local radio, internet news sites, internet review / recommendation sites, blogs and online groups / forums

The question does not ask whether the population trusts one media type more than another. Rather, the comparative data comes from the same research undertaken year on year.

The question was asked not to provide detailed research into trust levels of different media types, but rather to throw up a broad litmus test to which media people trust broadly. Clearly different audiences will trust different media types to different degrees. The audience building functionality built into UKPulse not only allows people to start to make sense of this question of trust, but also to understand through which media their ever fragmenting audiences can be best targetted.

Claire has posted further on metrica's blog, Measurement Matters where everyone is welcome to join the debate.

Claire's post can be found here: http://www.metrica.net/MeasurementMatters/post/2008/09/Feeling-the-pulse-of-a-nations-trust.aspx

[Mik Barton]

Here I am sat at the laptop looking around for debate about PR. Just been reading about social networking from someone working in comms in India... interesting stuff. Which led me to a viewpoint from the USA http://pressreleaseprblog.com/2008/09/19/stop-being-a-social-shadow/ (I think)

Do I trust blogs? Not always, but they get me thinking. (Do I trust what I read in a tabloid, a broadsheet or a Zimbabwe/Georgian/Russian newspaper?) I make up my own mind based on content and context.

Do I trust comments that seem to have a commercial axe to grind?

"Thanks for your interest in my product..." (Sorry Richard I switched off after that)

[Deborah PRBlog]

It could also be that Bloggers create their own Usernames - so you dont know who is really writing the content.

Beware The Trolls!