14 DAY TRIAL // The way we use the Internet and relate to web content is constantly changing and so is the way we find new information online. Search engines used to be the center of information discovery but there has been a great shift in recent years towards social media which, while still relatively small as a percentage of the market, is now getting significant enough to warrant some research. That's what Nielsen believed anyway so it decided to look at how users approached information discovery grouping them in three main categories based on their preferred method: those using search (Searchers), portals (Portalists), and social media (Socializers).
“In a nutshell, there is a segment of the online population that uses social media as a core navigation and information discovery tool — roughly 18 percent of users see it as core to finding new information. While still a smaller percentage than those who use search engines or portals like Yahoo! or MSN, it is a significant figure. And as social media usage continues to increase (unique visitors to Twitter.com increased 959% YOY in August) I can only expect this figure to grow,” Jon Gibs, VP Media Analytics at Nielsen, wrote.
Overall search engines are still the main method most users choose when trying to find new information as 37 percent of those surveyed answered “search engines” to the question “When looking for new information online, on what type of website do you start your search?” This group was followed closely by those using web portals such as Yahoo or MSN to start their search, 34 percent. Only 11 percent of those asked started at dedicated sites for that type information.
However, a total of 18 percent used social media as their first choice, though this group is made up of Wikipedia, with 9 percent, blogs with 5 percent and social networks like Facebook or Twitter at 4 percent. The researchers also found that users are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the amount of information online, especially those preferring social media, but they believe that the reason why users ignore the information deluge is that they tend to trust their friends to find the information and content that they will also find useful or enjoyable.