Last year communicators across Europe, including GCN members, took part in a survey to discover how Social Media is affecting our daily work and the challenges and opportunities it presents.

1383 professionals from 30 countries participated in the survey,  jointly conducted by the European Association of Communication Directors and the University of St. Gallen.

And now the results are in, here is a summary:

• Most communicators have some experience of working with Social Media as they are increasingly involved in tasks such as agenda setting, media monitoring or building stakeholder relationships.

• A quarter of practitioners are very versed and engaged in Social Media.

• While many practitioners find Social Media useful and relevant, it is often superiors who drive their use in the workplace.

• Levels of engagement in Social Media reflect levels of confidence communicators have in using these new applications and platforms. With those with little engagement being the most skeptical. Those actively involved tend to be more satisfied with their jobs.

• More than half of those surveyed showed signs that the pressure of adding Social Media to the communications mix is leading to overload and stress.

• Most organizations lack relevant crisis and contingency plans.

The survey report concluded that learning to enjoy Social Media is a good coping strategy for the added stress it can bring and, with many organizations still experimenting with new media, now is a good time to take the leap and actively engage in the Social Web.

If you would like to know more, download the full survey results:
EACD Social Media Survey 2011.

Melitta