“I Just Google It”: Folk Theories of Distributed Discovery

Social Media News Use and Political Cynicism: Differential Pathways Through “News Finds Me” Perception

“…Inevitably, users within these social networks will be exposed to news contents without any explicit or intentional effort of their own Kim, Chen, & de Zúñiga, 2013). While maintaining connections with family and friends remains the primary reason for using social media, the increase in news circulation via social media or messaging applications (e.g., Toff & Nielsen, 2018) may suggest that the chance of people being "inadvertently" exposed to and consuming news content becomes all the greater (e.g., Valeriani & Vaccari, 2016;Weeks, Lane, Kim, Lee, & Kwak, 2017).…”

Mediated Skewed Diffusion of Issues Information: A Theory

“…The current media environment is one of "distributed discovery" where traditional news media are no longer the primary distributors of information. However, these media still produce much of the content people see whether they access content via reading a physical or digital newspaper, watching news broadcasts, or clicking on stories presented in their social media feeds (Toff & Nielsen, 2018).…”

“…One result of the advent of distributed discovery (see Toff & Nielsen, 2018) is news institutions are no longer in control of the distribution of news, and the power that came along with that control is diminished (Carlson, 2017). The shift away from traditional mainstream media, for example, television networks, as powerbrokers in political communication has resulted in reconfigured relationships between politicians, citizens, and the press (Blumler & Coleman, 2015).…”

“…Comprehending the way information is diffused through online communication is important to understand debates on a wide range of issues including vaccines, climate change, and more. People still rely on traditional sources for information about the world they live in, such as broadcast and print journalism (Barthel, 2017;Matsa, 2017aMatsa, , 2017b; however, social media influences how people are exposed to information and affects how information is diffused through interpersonal networks connected via technology (Toff & Nielsen, 2018). Scholars have called for more theoretically informed work on technology and opinion formation and diffusion (e.g., Dutton et al, 2017).…”

Información política y exposición incidental en las redes sociales: un análisis de Argentina, Chile, España y México

“…Therefore, the news is not searched for in itself, but reaches the user mixed with other social and entertainment content and is often devoid of context or hierarchy. This is due to the growing perception among users that "information is out there" and if the news is important enough, it will find them, and they will not need to look for it (Toff and Nielsen, 2018;Bergström and Jervelycke Belfrage, 2018). Incidental exposure to online news can be considered a type of informational serendipity or accidental information retrieval (Erdelez, 2005;Purcell et al, 2010).…”