The use of Facebook and YouTube among local media practitioners in discharging their profesional duties is still low despite the fact that the social networking websites are becoming more and more popular among the general public.

According to a survey conducted by a public relations company, Intelecasia, and Universiti Teknologi Mara, blogs were the most popular choice among media practitioners in search of alternative views concerning a certain issue.

Intelecasia chief executive officer Manminder Kaur Dhillon said the use of blogs was prominently visible when 68 percent of 442 journalists and editors from 27 media organisations interviewed said they read more than three times or quite frequently news posted in blogs.

"While the use of social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook is on the rise, the application of the two websites among professional media practitioners (editor and journalists) in Malaysia is still low.

Never use Twitter for assignments

"Only 37.8 percent of the 442 respondents in the survey said they use Facebook for professional purposes, while 50.4 percent of the respondents said they do not use YouTube on regular basis," she said when presenting the results of her survey on Media Relations Practices 2010 in Petaling Jaya today.

Manminder Kaur said the situation here was different from the West where media practitioners make full use of not only blogs, but all social networking websites in search of alternative views and opinions on certain issues.

She said the survey, which was conducted over five months beginning April, also found that half of the respondents had never used Twitter for their assignments, whether in finding news sources or receiving media invites.

The survey is conducted with the aim of identifying the preferred mode of communications among media practitioners and determining how far would they use social networking websites and alternative media in discharging their professional duties.

- Bernama