As Americans buy products, seek information, plan their social lives, and make personal and business decisions, the lines between media channels in the 21st century have become increasingly blurred, says the study report.

Along with a steep rise in the use of shopping Web sites among consumers, doubling from 2006 to 2008, 44% of those visiting shopping Web sites read consumer reviews and comments there, showing that these sites have transformed into virtual social gathering places and information destinations, rather than just a place to purchase goods.

Consumers are (frequently) placing more trust in the experiences of their online peers than they are on the retailer's product descriptions. This participatory media landscape, says the report, means media audiences are having just as much influence, if not more, as the content providers themselves.

 Nicholas Scibetta, Ketchum partner and director of the agency's Global Media Network, concludes that "... not only are people posting their thoughts via consumer-generated reviews, but they are also responding to each other's comments... (creating) pockets of social networks found all over the Web... conversations among readers, information seekers, and reviewers can be found from The New York Times and The Huffington Post, to YouTube, to the neighborhood blogger... with the widespread availability of such conversations, the lines that once separated mediums have now melded."

 Jerry Swerling, founder and director of the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, says ".. it's a transformative time in which we are seeing outlets move from single-media to multi-media... "

Consumers are using a wider variety of channels than ever before. Newer channels, such as blogs and social networking sites, are gaining more and more traction. The survey found that 26% of consumers use social networking sites, compared to 17% in 2006. The usage of blogs nearly doubled (24% in 2008 compared to 13% in 2006).

Among influential consumers, the 10% to 15% of the population who initiate change in their communities, 32% read blogs written by journalists (vs. 8% of the general population), and:

• 43% read blogs by non-journalists, compared to 16% of the general population
• 70% of influencers use search engines, vs. 57% of the general population
• 43% of influencers use video-sharing Web sites, vs. 25% of the  general population
• 29% of influencers use specialty information portals (such as WebMD), vs.16% of the general population
• Influencers also use more new media such as videocasts (19%), RSS news feeds (15%), podcasts (12%), and mobile media (9%)

The use of more established media channels continues to wane. 65% of consumers use major network television news as a source of information (down from 71% in 2006). Local television news saw a sharper drop - 62% in 2008 compared to 74% in 2006.

Swerling concludes "... we've watched traditional mass communications give way to communications controlled by the masses... the melding of media is... demonstrated in the actions of legacy media, which are continuing to embrace and implement the principles of new media. Conversely, the journalistic principles that underline news organizations... accuracy, timeliness, objectivity... move to other delivery channels."

 For more information about melding media, please visit Ketchum here.