The Public Affairs Council has a brand-new, first-of-its kind study on  the use of social media in public affairs. With more than 500 million people on Facebook and some 100 million populating Twitter, using  these new media wisely is essential to running an effective  public affairs department.

Because social media are relatively new, there exists little research on how many organizations use these tools, to what extent, or with what resources.

For this study, the Council polled more than 120 public affairs practitioners in leading companies, professional associations, trade groups and other organizations. While the research found that the number of  companies using social media is  only about half that of "non-corporate" organizations, both tend to use Twitter the most, followed by Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

The study also found that the resources dedicated to social media are extremely low in all organizations, with social media's median share of budget below 5 percent of total public affairs expenses.

Order this study and learn how your department's social media activities and resources  compare with those of similar organizations-and how to expand your footprint in the virtual world.

Click here to download the key findings from the study. Click here to order your copy of the full report.

The Council is also presenting several Webinars and teleconferences on the topic of social media. 

View additional coverage of the study in PRNews by clicking here (login information required).