80- percent of users 17 and older consider the Internet to be an important source of information, says USC's 2008 Digital Future Report ..

 68 percent rated it higher than TV, 63 percent preferred the Net to radio and 63 percent rated it better than newspapers as an info source.

The Digital Future Project also found that the social aspects on online communities is growing at a rapid rate

Membership in online communities has more than doubled in only three years. More than half of online community members (54 percent) log into their community at least once a day, and 71 percent of members said their community is very important or extremely important to them. Fifty-six percent of members reported meeting their online counterparts in person.

More than half - -55 percent -- say they feel as strongly about their online communities as they do about their real-world communities.

Just as the Internet is changing the way we communicate and interact, so it is changing how businesses should interact with their customers and stakeholders. 

The role of PR is shifting.

Find out where your audiences are online and make it easier for them to share ideas with you and with each other.