Americans over 50 name television as the best way to get news and information in today’s world. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that adults under 40 name the Internet as the best source while 40-somethings are divided between those two worlds.

Print newspapers are considered the best source for many senior citizens but hardly anybody else. Radio finishes near the bottom of the four mediums among all age groups.

Overall, 37% of the nation’s adults still see television as the best source for news and information. Thirty percent (30%) name the Internet, 14% say print newspapers, and 13% look to radio for news and information.

In another measure of shifting cultural habits, just 25% of Americans now call and ask directions when they need to go somewhere. Sixty-five percent (65%) say that they go online and use a map service. Senior citizens are evenly divided on this point, while younger adults prefer the map services.

However, while 30-and 40-somethings may use mapping services like younger adults; and while 30-somethings get information like those younger adults;, there remains another huge gap when it comes to social networking. Forty-seven percent (47%) of under-30 adults regularly use a social network like Facebook or MySpace. Just 22% of 30-somethings do the same. Just 6% of 40-somethings use social networks, a percentage that falls to 2% among those over 50.

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