College Students Prefer Search, FOAF to MSM

According to a new survey by Yahoo, 81 percent of college students rated search engines as the best source of information …

Friends and family (e.g. friend of a friend or FOAF) were rated best by 64 percent of students, while just 34 percent said traditional media was their best source of information. (The numbers add up to more than 100 because an information source was considered “best” if students placed it in the top two boxes on a five-point scale.)

This bodes well for the future growth of blogs and other alternative sources, particularly if they are written by people the individual either knows personally or feels he/she can trust.

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Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.