This is the million dollar question asked by publishers and social media narcissists. During recession the print media lost a lot in revenue that resulted in some publishers forced to close shops.
Social Media was experiencing enormous growth, twitter was +recording 100 000 new users daily and Facebook more than 260 000 new users daily.
The Gospel truth is that social media is not there to replace or destroy print media. These two are cousins with the same objective which is to inform, educate and entertain.
The old generation still prefers to read papers while the new generation is in love with smart phones and technology.
The print media need to collaborate with social media to increase sales and also entice the readers to buy print media products.
A good exhaustive social media strategy will create more awareness about the print media and also attract more traffic to the organization’s website.
Since the World Cup has started, we have seen a lot of people getting score updates from Social Media than print and electronic media.
This tells us that social media can give a platform for print media to sell itself by providing links on social media that will lead readers to buy press products.
About 15 million South African people now spend a lot of time on line which was not happening in the past. If more people spend more time online, print media need to make its presence felt by providing fresh news that will capture the imagination of the audience?
The difference between Print Media and Social Media
No Print Social Media
1 One way Conversation Two way conversation
2 Mass marketing One-on- One marketing
3 Economic decision Community decision
4 Formal Language Informal language
5 Passive Involvement Active involvement
6 Delayed information Immediacy
