![Reporters Use Twitter to Promote, Not Report [STUDY]](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/archives/048SmTAxoJZz9xC44WSrXd3/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1647020404.jpg)
The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs collaborated on a report that examined 3,600 tweets from 13 news organizations for the week of Feb. 14-20. The analysis found that 93% of the tweets contained links to the organization's own site. Only 6% of the tweets contained no link, only 1% linked to another news site and another 1% linked to non-news content.
While Twitter is often seen as a medium for leveling the walls between journalists and their readers, the report found it's primarily used as a tool for publicizing stories. Only 2% of the tweets analyzed during the period were designed to cull information from readers. Fox News was a notable exception -- 21% of its tweets asked for readers' input.
The same held true for journalists who manned their own Twitter accounts: Just 3% used their personal Twitter feeds to solicit information from readers.
The researchers likened the news organizations' use of Twitter to the early days of the web: "Initially, news organizations, worried about losing audience, rarely linked to content outside their own web domain," the authors wrote. "Now, the idea is that being a service -- of providing users with what they are looking for even if it comes from someone else -- carries more weight. It bears watching whether Twitter use for mainstream news organizations evolves in this same way."
The report also showed strong growth for Twitter from November 2010 until June 2011. During that time, the percentage of "online Americans" using the micro-blogging platform rose from 8% to 13%, a growth of 63%.
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