This evening President Obama will address a joint session of Congress with the goal of pushing forward comprehensive health care reform. Some commentators have argued that no speech can resolve the conflicting positions  behind the opposition to the existing plans; others have been more optimistic and have suggested  points and approaches that would need to be included in order for the speech to be effective.

What are your expectations of President Obama’s speech: do you think it will be something special or more of the same? What issues would you like addressed and explained? And, for those joining the discussion after the speech, what  were your impressions?

Zeljka communication, economics, health, politics health, Obama, politics, race, war, zogby

A recent article in Wall Street Journal argued that social networking sites such as Facebook have some undesirable effects on friendships. One of the arguments made was that the ease with which information can be shared encourages sharing of banality that was previously usually kept for oneself.
One of the targets in both the article and comments were posts and tweets about consuming food and drinks.

Insofar as this is a sin, Zogby Interactive data suggest that not that many of us are sinners. 85% percent of our respondents who use Twitter said they have never twittered about food or drinks. Females tend to find these topic a little more interesting, with 18% saying they have done so (compared to 13% males).

Do you think that sites such as Facebook encourage banality in relationships? Do you tweet about food and drinks?

Zeljka communication, culture, internet, lifestyles, media twitter, work, zogby

In a recent Zogby interactive survey, we asked the respondents how they stay in touch with their family and friends both near and far. Here are the results. 

When we asked, “which one method is your favorite for keeping in contact with family and friends who live in the same geographic area as you live?” the top five choices are:

• Landline conversation (25%)
• Cellphone/Smartphone conversations (24%)
• Email (23%)
• Cellphone/Smartphone texting (13%)
• Facebook (10%). 

When we asked, “which one method is your favorite for keeping in contact with friends and family who live outside the geographic area where you live?” the ranking above changed to:

• Email (39%)
• Facebook (24%)
• Cellphone/Smartphone conversations (13%)
• Landline conversation (13%)
• Cellphone/Smartphone texting (6%)

Facebook made the top-5 list in both cases. Groups that prefer to stay in touch with their family and friends through Facebook are the 18-to-29 year olds (53%), respondents who do not own a house (43%), those who have a child under 17 years old (41%), and those living in small cities. Groups that are least likely to use Facebook as their favorite method for keeping in touch with friends and family are respondents who live in rural areas (16%), those over 50 years old (7%), and respondents who are divorced, separated or widowed (11%).

How do you stay connected with your friends and family? Which of the methods above is your favorite? Do you use Facebook and texting a lot to keep your friends and family updated? How frequently do you use them?

Grace Uncategorized, communication, internet, lifestyles, technology zogby

We’ve done a lot of polling recently on how people get their news and what sources they most trust. We wanted to find out more about why the Internet is in rapid ascendance, while newspapers are on the media endangered species list.
The results come from two Zogby Interactive surveys taken in the past month, one in conjunction with 463 Communications and the other a Zogby project. One question produced a particularly curious result.  We asked which of the four primary information sources was most reliable.

Go to John Zogby’s weekly column at Forbes.com  and read about why many people believe the Internet is the most reliable media source of information. Also, read more about our survey on the Internet and other media here.

Paul John Zogby, communication, internet, media communication, internet, John Zogby, media, television, zogby

We at Zogby have started our own Twitter feed! Follow us at http://twitter.com/zogby . We’ll tweet  about our data, Zogby in the news, blog posts, and other topics of interest.  John Zogby will be stopping by to leave his own tweets  too.  If you’ve got ideas for other things we should tweet about, leave us a  comment!

Katy communication John Zogby, twitter, zogby

Bans on talking or texting while driving are becoming more common in states and counties across the U.S., and past Zogby Interactive surveys find as many as 83% of Americans support driving while texting bans, while more than half agree talking on a cell phone should be banned – even with a headset.

For many drivers, it comes down to the issue of distraction – nearly everyone can recall a time when they’ve seen another driver paying more attention to their conversation than traffic while chatting away on a cell phone. “Traffic texters” may be harder to spot if a cell phone is held down low, but at least one hand is required to type and checking for a reply could take a driver’s eyes off the road. But are these talking or texting driving distractions any worse than eating, smoking, or adjusting the stereo while driving? What about monitoring a GPS navigation system, or keeping an eye on unruly pets or restless children in the backseat? For 22% of respondents in a September 2007 Zogby Interactive poll, typing, sending or receiving text massages was considered the most dangerous driving distraction, and another 10% said talking on a cell phone without a headset created the most dangerous driving situation – even more dangerous than being drunk or impaired by drugs while behind the wheel (58% said being drunk or high while driving was most dangerous).

Do you think texting or talking on a cell phone while driving is as great or more of a cause for concern than drunk driving? Should current laws in some states and counties banning texting or using a cell phone while driving be expanded to include other driving distractions or should these bans never have been passed in the first place?

Steph communication, lifestyles drugs, zogby

Most Americans believe small business, science and tech leaders will lead the U.S. to a better future – not the news media, government or large corporations. That’s the key finding from a new We Media/Zogby survey released today in conjunction with the We Media Miami 09 conference.

You can find and discuss the findings here. Like all surveys, this one is a snapshot in time – and given the times, not that surprising. The world is in a world of mess made worse by failing big businesses and inept governments. Big media is tumbling too. But it correlates with what my research organization, iFOCOS, has been forecasting for nearly a decade: a historic, global shift in human behavior and organization. A new era.

The New Now

While the marketers and lords of commerce were playing with our futures, the future itself was emerging in ways that broke dramatically from the past. Technology, economics and human creativity converged to shape the post-collapse era, the connected and empowered culture we call the New Now. In the connected culture we can no longer claim ignorance, innocence or powerlessness. Great forces of authority, perception and commerce compete for our attention and submission. What’s changed is that we can compete back. And we are. Something big is emerging – a culture broadly redefined and organized around individuals, creativity, empowerment and responsibility – and enriched, as we’ve long anticipated, by the continuous flow of information through ubiquitous digital networks.

In his book The Way We’ll Be, John Zogby writes optimistically of what he sees in today’s 20-somethings – global, digital natives, diverse and accepting of differences, and hunger for solutions. We see that too in our work at iFOCOS: an emerging culture of passion and purpose – in business, in life, in everything. The public’s sense of who will lead us to a better future reflects the failures of the 20th Century’s biggest and most influential institutions.  Dissatisfaction with the news media, corporations and government runs deep. So in The New Now Americans look elsewhere.

Read more…

ZogbyFeaturedContributor communication, future, media culture, economics, future, John Zogby, media, technology, The Way We'll Be, work, zogby