Social networking site Twitter has started preparing for its initial public offering, a year after Facebook went public with great fanfare. This is just one of many factors pointing to Twitter’s growing influence in the media landscape. TheMediaOnline reports.
A recent study by research company Media Tenor SA shows that although the South African media has not written much about its initial public offering, local print media is increasingly relying on Twitter as a source.
“Twitter as a company received only 17 percent of editorial space when compared to Facebook’s 83 percent, despite the micro-blogging site being quoted more often in the South African media,” Media Tenor SA senior researcher Stephano Radaelli said.
“The social media phenomenon has caught traditional media off guard making steady progress as an influential source of information to quote from… both platforms [Facebook and Twitter] have received just as many or more quotes in the first half of 2013 than in the whole of 2012.”
Media Tenor SA based its results on the analysis of 59 statements on Twitter and Facebook as companies, 555 quotes in 2012 and 779 quotes in 2013, as well as 514 quotes from Facebook in 34 print media and five television programmes.
The local media generated over two thirds more quotes from Twitter in the first half of 2013 compared to the entire 2012.
“This indicates that local media are finding Twitter a key source to leverage prominent public figures’ own words in a quick and accessible way.”
Most media are quoting more from Twitter than Facebook. The daily print media are relying much more on quotes from social media than any other platform. The Pretoria News uses Twitter quotes the most, followed by The Times and The Citizen, with the Sowetan being the fourth most user, The Star the fifth most and then Beeld. The picture is similar on the usages of quotes from Facebook – the Pretoria News leads again, followed by The Citizen and then The Times, with the Cape Times being the fourth highest user of Facebook quotes and then The Star and Die Burger.
The Sunday World newspaper used the least quotes from Twitter, the Cape Times the second least and the Die Burger and Sunday Times the third least and fourth least respectively. When it came it Facebook, the Daily Sun used the least quotes, followed by Beeld, the Daily Dispatch and then the Sowetan.
IMAGE: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Al Jazeera English
