NPR TWITTER SURVEY

US-based National Public Radio (NPR) says its Twitter followers are “more news centric” than its Facebook fans, asking for hard news and breaking news above everything else (Facebook fans wanted offbeat stories the most, followed by hard news). But Twitter followers say they click links less often than Facebook fans — a discovery than NPR says is reflected in its referral numbers.

I find that when I'm tweeting I don't click on links. That's because I'm on the go, reading your tweets on my smartphone! I rarely go on twitter from my laptop, although I do settle down on my (extremely private) Facebook page!

28% of NPR's Twitter users say they also access NPR on Facebook, while only 8% of its Facebook users say they use Twitter for the same purpose.

67% of NPR Twitter followers say they listen to NPR over-the-air radio broadcasts, in contrast with 76% of their Facebook fans. NPR's Twitterrati use npr.org at a similar rate as NPR Facebook fans: 59% for Twitter and 58% for Facebook.

The numbers, however, are more dramatic when looking at NPR’s digital services and platforms. When it comes to NPR podcasts, 39% of Twitter followers said they use them, compared with 29% of Facebook fans. For the NPR iPhone app, it’s 32% for Twitter and 19% for Facebook. For Android phones, it’s 11% among Twitter users and 5% on Facebook. And for the NPR iPad app, it’s 7% of Twitter users vs. 3% of Facebook users.

Another survey found that in the UK, people rely on the BBC for online breaking news: Half of those surveyed who use the internet to check for breaking news do so via the BBC News website, the study showed. Combined social media sites - including Facebook, Twitter and Youtube – were more popular source of breaking news than any one individual newspaper or commercial news broadcaster’s website. Social media was second most popular source for internet users (19 per cent) to get breaking news, according to a survey of social media habits by iCD Research.