News alert! Message in your inbox! The times they are a changin' – aren't they always? – and this time it is big, it's moving at speed and in a profound way. From iPods to podcasts and from Bebo to MySpace, new media are changing the way we communicate. If you have not tuned in or logged on to yet what's going on, head straight to your Mac or PC and get up to speed. Fast.

Before you think I am getting carried away, let us get a sense of the scale of what we're talking about here. Almost every teenager in Ireland is on Bebo at least every second day updating their own personal page and sending messages to their friends; every band worth its salt is now a member of MySpace and releases tracks exclusively to its many 'friends' on the website.

Ambitious music acts are taking things into their own hands by releasing tracks or performing live on the web. Just think of Artic Monkeys and Sandi Thom. Kilkenny singer Majella Murphy got instant attention with her stunt of launching her debut album, Brave New World, on the new Sony Ericsson Z530i mobile phone.

More than one blog is created every second; through podcasts, people no longer need to listen to their favourite radio shows in real time. Once they register for a podcast, it is automatically updated on their computer every day, so there is no need to go looking for the latest instalment of their favoured 'casts.

But let us be clear, this is not to say that traditional media no longer have a role to play, they do. But print media are now struggling to keep readers, digital TV and more choice on terrestrial TV are making people more difficult to reach in large numbers and appointment TV (one off events which generate great public interest, like live football, Pop Idol/X Factor public votes and Big Brother evictions) is becoming more popular and, as a result, more expensive.

If you are under 28, ABC1 and into music, news and culture, you are most likely selectively listening to radio, a regular visitor to iTunes and CDwow, vaguely aware of what is going on in the news, mostly via Google news or 90 second news bulletins on radio and listening to music on your iPod as you commute to college/work. Women will maintain an interest in monthly glossies, weekly gossip magazines and weekend supplements in the national press.

As PR practitioners, it is vital that we know and understand new media. What is even more significant is that while the internet is now established as the world's single most valuable information resource, if you are under 28, much of your internet usage is now being driven by key websites.

The sites are inviting people to subscribe and become members, to share their tastes and interests with like-minded people and enter into daily conversations about hobbies, music and movies. It is connecting people in a real and interactive way and it has happened so fast it has taken the marketing world by surprise.

It has become a phenomenon quicker than brand marketers and advertising and PR execs can say 'positive word-of-mouth'. Not only is it almost pass