The latest Hitwise Report on US news and media consumption shows trends over the last year.

One of the biggest increases is the use of video websites and through them the growth of citizen generated video content. What is happening is that people are using news sources to pick up a breaking story and then access video footage.

With the increased use of video enabled mobile phones citizen journalists are literally ‘on site’ as the incident occurs. Professional news crews take time to assemble, arrive and deploy and in many cases cannot get as close to the story source as those involved.

Most news organisations have now started to encourage citizen journalists to contribute stories, video and audio content in a more structured fashion. This does not just apply to the broadcast media but the press too.

What should businesses be considering?

• Want to communicate or get feedback from employees on an ongoing basis? Set up a video enabled intranet and encourage two way communication.
• Want to know what customers or business partners think and feel? Encourage employees to blog and accept comments. Enable audio and video blogging. Have it as a 365/24 market research tool. Use blog tracking to see what is being said positively and negatively about your competitors.
• Want to create a buzz about your product or service? Create a social media site where people can 'meet' and share ideas. Start a competition and engage with your customers. Ask them to suggest what they want best from you.