64% of Nittany Lion Nation Agree: Joe Should Go

Fans and Alumni Sound off on Social Media

News provided by

Nov 09, 2011, 01:56 ET

ROSSLYN, Va., Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of the Penn State scandal, New Media Strategies conducted the first analysis of Penn State fans online and found an estimated 64% of conversations support the retirement of Joe Paterno.

To reach this result, social media discussion was analyzed in Penn State-oriented communities, sites, Facebook pages and Twitter, as well as in message boards and in the blogosphere. Approximately 20,000 discussions about the situation took place during the time period of data collection from November 5 – 9, 2011.

"This analysis made clear that, in the eyes of most Penn State fans, Paterno made the right decision to resign at the end of the season," said New Media Strategies Founder & CEO Pete Snyder. "While JoePa remains a legend to many in Happy Valley and well beyond, the social media discussions clearly show the allegations and arrests to be too much for most fans."

About New Media Strategies

Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, New Media Strategies (NMS) is the world's largest social media marketing agency. Twice honored as one of the "Best Places to Work" by Washingtonian Magazine and heralded as a "pioneer in consumer communications" by the Washington Post, NMS has played a leading role on more than 2,000 social media campaigns for 85 different industries. Founded in 1999 by former pollster Pete Snyder, named one of the "Best Bosses in America" by Fortune Small Business and a Washingtonian "Top Tech Titan," NMS is a full service idea shop with more than 120 employees in Arlington, VA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY and Detroit, MI. New Media Strategies operates as a subsidiary of Meredith Corp. To learn more, visit www.nms.com, follow @nmsosphere and like on Facebook NMSosphere.