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Schools.com (@schoolsEDU) has created the above Infographic to show that nearly half of all Americans get some form of local news on a mobile device, and 46% of people get their news online at least 3 times a week. Online news sources officially surpassed print newspapers in ad revenue in 2010. Thanks to social media, we're getting news as it happens — sometimes even before news organizations have a chance to report it.

Also see our previous blogpost, "Infographic: Pew's State of the News Media 2012."

Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Religion News tab.

Although many Californians who own Kindles, Nooks, and other e-readers love their gadgets, they still prefer books the old-fashioned way — on paper — according to a survey by USC Dornsife (@USCDornsife) and the Los Angeles Times (@usclatpoll).

Even with sales of e-readers surging, only 10% of respondents who have one said they had abandoned traditional books. More than half said most or all of the books they read are in printed form.

The pleasure of reading endures in the digital age, even with its nearly boundless options for entertainment, according to data collected from 1,500 registered state voters. Six in 10 people said they like to read “a lot,” and more than 20% reported reading books for more than 10 hours a week....

And age is clearly no barrier to new habits. Folks over 50 are embracing some new reading technology at about the same rate as younger people. Twenty-two percent of those ages 18 to 49 own e-readers; 20% of people 50 and older have them.

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogposts, “The Next Time Someone Says the Internet Killed Reading Books, Show Them This Chart” and “Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market content in either ebook or pbook formats.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Alexis Madrigal (@alexismadrigal), senior editor at The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic), offers this chart of statistics drawn from Gallup (@gallupnews) surveys to show that book reading has not diminished with the rise of digitization; on the contrary, it’s expanded. Interesting!

Also see The Christian Science Monitor's (@csmonitor) "Ebook revolution: We're reading more than ever" and our previous blogpost, "Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading."

If you’re a book lover like we (@smrsault) are, be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Research tab.

According to a study by Grey Matter Research (Phoenix, AZ), most Americans believe the Christian faith has a positive impact on society when it comes to the less fortunate being helped and children being raised with good morals.

But Americans are about as likely to feel the Christian faith has a negative impact as a positive one in the areas of sexuality in society, racism, how the US is viewed by other countries, and how people view others with different beliefs and perspectives.

The most negative perception is how the Christian faith impacts sexuality in society. Just 26% feel the faith has a positive impact in this area, while 37% see no real impact, and 37% believe it has a negative impact.

If the measured 16 different areas of society are averaged together, the typical perception of the Christian faith is that 13% of all Americans believe it has a strongly positive impact, 29% see a somewhat positive impact, 37% see no impact, 15% perceive a somewhat negative impact, and 7% believe the faith has a strongly negative impact on American society.

Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, notes that people who identify with Christianity often are still critical of the impact the Christian faith has on society:

People who are Christian don’t just view their faith through rose-colored glasses. Even among those who actively attend church and read the Bible, there are frequent criticisms that the Christian faith is not having a strongly positive impact on society, and in fact sometimes that the faith is impacting things negatively. Of course, at the same time, many non-Christians give credit to the Christian faith for making positive contributions to society in some areas. It’s not quite as black-or-white as some might think.

Read this in full.

See our other blogposts tagged "Religion."

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you in your research and understanding.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

According to a new report by the Pew Research Center’s (@pewresearch) Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet), 43% of Americans age 16 and older read long-form digital text such as ebooks and magazines, and many say they’re reading more because books and other long-form material are in a digital format.

One-fifth of American adults (21%) report they’ve read an ebook in the past year; this number increased following a gift-giving season that saw a spike in the ownership of both tablet computers and ebook reading devices such as the original Kindles and Nooks. In mid-December 2011, 17% of American adults had reported they read an ebook in the previous year; by February, 2012, the share increased to 21%.

The average reader of ebooks says she’s read 24 books (the mean number) in the past 12 months, compared with an average of 15 books by a non-ebook consumer. For device owners, those who own ebook readers say they’ve read an average of 24 books in the previous year (vs. 16 books by those who don’t own that device). They report having read a median of 12 books (vs. 7 books by those who do not own the device.

·         30% of those who read e-content say they now spend more time reading, and owners of tablets and ebook readers particularly stand out as reading more now.

·         The prevalence of ebook reading is markedly growing, but pbooks still dominate the world of book readers.

·         People prefer ebooks to pbooks when they want speedy access and portability, but print wins out when people are reading to children and sharing books with others.

·         Ebook reading happens across an array of devices, including smartphones.

·         Those who read ebooks are more likely to be under age 50, have some college education, and live in households earning more than $50,000.

·         11% of all Americans age 16 and older – or 14% of those who have read a book in the past year – consume audiobooks.

·         The majority of book readers prefer to buy rather than borrow.

·         61% of e-reading device owners said they purchased the most recent book they read, compared with 48% of all readers.

·         Owners of e-reading devices are more likely than all Americans 16 and older to get book recommendations from people they knew (81% vs. 64%) and bookstore staff (31% vs. 23%).

·         26% of those who had read a book in the past 12 months said that what they enjoyed most was learning, gaining knowledge, and discovering information.

Read this in full.

Also see Mike Shatzkin's (@MikeShatzkin) analysis in "A feast of data to interpret in new Pew survey of book readers about ebooks."

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you plan your strategy for ebook (as well as pbook) publishing.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Statistics compiled by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research are now depicted in this Infographic (also available as a PDF) by Seedbed Publishing (@OfficialSeedbed).

Notice the shift towards nondenominational churches. In 1900 there were less than 8 million nondenomination Christians. Now there are more than 432 million.

Also see our previous blogposts “Christianity: World’s Largest Religion” and “Study: Religiously Active People More Likely to Engage in Civic Life.”

Bookmark and use daily SomersaultNOW, our (@smrsault) online dashboard for publishing and marketing professionals.

According to Gallup (@gallupnews), Mississippi is the most religious US state, and is the first of 9 other states — Utah, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Oklahoma  —  where Gallup classifies at least half of the residents as “very religious.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Vermont and New Hampshire are the least religious states, and are 2 of the 5 states  — along with Maine, Massachusetts, and Alaska — where less than 30% of all residents are very religious.

Read this in full and use the above interactive map.

And see USA TODAY’s (@faith_reason) “Topography of Faith” interactive map.

Gallup also reports that Americans who attend a church, synagogue, or mosque frequently report experiencing more positive emotions and fewer negative ones in general than do those who attend less often or not at all. Frequent churchgoers experience an average of 3.36 positive emotions per day compared with an average of 3.08 among those who never attend. This relationship holds true even when controlling for key demographic variables like age, education, and income.

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogposts “Study: Religiously Active People More Likely to Engage in Civic Life,” and “Christianity: World’s Largest Religion.”

Be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Research tab.

The Pew Research Center’s (@pewresearch) Project for Excellence in Journalism (@PEJPew) summarizes its State of the News Media 2012 report in this Infographic.

TV is still a strong news source, but digital is the growth area, with tablets the fastest-growing platform. Social media is a fair source of news recommendations, though news consumers prefer to find stories themselves, and direct from sources like CNN.com, newspaper, and network sites. Among the findings:

·         23% of U.S. adults get news from two devices

·         44% own a smart phone, and 18% own a tablet computer

·         70% get their news from a desktop computer, and 56% from tablets

·         64% of those employed full time own a tablet computer

·         Twitter is more highly regarded than Facebook as a source of news story recommendations.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you understand the sea-changes occurring in media and publishing, and how they affect your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Infographic by MBA Online (@MBAOnline).

Author, speaker, and futurist Leonard Sweet (@lensweet) scouted this article in the World Future Society’s (@WorldFutureSoc) magazine, The Futurist (@Theyear2030) (March-April 2012): A Future of Fewer Words?: 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Language by Lawrence Baines (in an earlier article, Baines offered 6 manifestations of the retreat of the written word:

     1. The power of image-based media to influence thought and behavior;

     2. The tendency of newer technologies to obliterate aspects of older technologies;

     3. The current emphasis on school reform;

     4. The influences of advertising and marketing;

     5. The current state of books as repositories of the language; and

     6. The reconceptualization of the library.)

Members may log in and read online. Nonmembers may order the issue.

Sweet says,

I tried to say the same thing in chapter 9 of my upcoming book Viral ("Turning a Tin Ear to Poetry"), but Baines is more comprehensive and scientifically compelling. “As the world recedes from the written word and becomes inundated with multisensory stimuli (images, sound, touch, taste, and smell), the part of the human brain associated with language will regress. While visually astute and more aurally discriminating, the areas of the brain associated with language are also associated with critical thinking and analysis. So, as the corpus of language shrinks, the human capacity for complex thinking may shrink with it.”

“Losing polysyllabic words will mean a corresponding loss of eloquence and precision. Today, many of the most widely read texts emanate from blogs and social networking sites. Authors of these sites may be non-readers who have little knowledge of effective writing and may have never developed an ear for language.”

Read The Futurist article in full (membership required).

Read Baines’ earlier article (pdf).

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you navigate the changing communication scene to most effectively reach your consumers.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Futurist News tab.