I went to college in Yellow Springs, OH, the definition of a small wacky liberal town in the middle of the cornfields of Ohio. There was not much to do except hang out on campus or go to town and hang out some more. When the Antioch Record came out (once a week), students would literally swarm "the cafe" (pronounced "the calf") to pick up a copy and devour it on the steps outside. College is a time of supreme narcissism -- it's all about you. Your grades, your professors, your friends, your feelings, your parties, etc. And college students love reading about their world. Yes, they may also read the AP stories about what's going on outside the bubble. But it's really all about what's going on inside the bubble. So it's no surprise to me that today's coeds are just as ravenously reading their papers online and demanding even more interactive content.

According to their press release, "College Publisher, a content management software used by a network of over 450 college newspaper websites, has issued its second annual College Newspaper Readership Survey. More than 7,500 college undergraduates, graduate students and recent alumni were asked about their readership preferences, trends in Internet usage and effectiveness of online advertisements." Here are the key findings:

Advertising Statistics – “Keep it Simple”

According to the survey, readers favor a simpler, cleaner and more attractive advertisement when browsing online.

- 52 percent of respondents are more likely to pay attention to a text-based advertisement.

- 45 percent of readers are attracted to an advertisement because “the underlying service is appealing.”

- 32 percent of respondents are likely to respond to an advertisement if its design is “simple.”

- 46 percent of respondents would be more interested in online advertising if it targeted their specific interests, bolstering the notion that marketers should develop designs specific to the 18-24 year-old demographic.

Internet Statistics – “Online Revolution”

Readers of online college newspapers have proven they are sophisticated consumers of web-based media and are enjoying the emergence of converged media. In addition to content, various points of interaction have a large impact on a newspaper website’s ability to attract readers.

- 44 percent of survey respondents want video/vodcasts and editor blogs made available through their college newspaper’s website.

- With 94 percent, Google is clearly the most used search engine. Yahoo! ranked a distant second with 39 percent, perhaps an indication not only of Google’s market-wide penetration, but the high level of emphasis the company places on courting college students.

- Job search tools remain in high demand for this demographic, with respondents citing Monster.com as the most frequently visited service site. CareerBuilder.com and HotJobs.com also ranked highly on the list.

- Instant messaging, auction/classifieds and social networking sites topped the list of most frequently used interactive features.

Newspaper (Online and Print) Readership Statistics – “Stay Current”

- Despite the perception that undergraduate students do not read newspapers, this year’s survey suggests they read newspapers that target their interests.

- 77 percent of the survey’s undergraduate respondents reported reading the print edition of the campus newspaper at least once each month.

- A staggering 90 percent of readers of print college newspapers reported doing so for local and campus news, underscoring the value that readers place on the local content provided by their college newspaper.

- Built-in audiences for online college newspapers continue to grow, as alumni communities add new members to their ranks upon graduation every year, while universities welcome a new crop of freshmen readers each fall.

- Undergraduates prefer reading online versions of national news sources, as 49 percent report visiting CNN.com at least once per month and 35 percent visit the New York Times Online (NYT.com) once per month, trending significantly higher than reading national newspapers in print.

Posted by anastasia