Mobile News Consumption

Abstract

This study investigates news consumption on mobile devices with the goal of identifying where mobile devices fit into people's media repertoires and how consumption patterns on them are different from those on other platforms. Results suggest that mobile devices are almost always used along with other platforms for getting news, that news sessions on smartphones are shorter than on other platforms, and mobile news consumption happens more times per day and is spread through the day. Implications for the study of news consumption, news producers, and consumers are discussed.

What’s New about Whatsapp for News? A Mixed-Method Study on News Outlets’ Strategies for Using WhatsApp

“…Although the results of RQ1.1 and 1.2 show reluctance of journalists to innovate and adapt to common habits of mobile communication, it is subject to critical discussion whether newsrooms should adapt to these practices. Previous studies suggest the implications of ubiquity and snacking might be negative because less information is conveyed to the audience (Molyneux 2018).…”

“…Van Damme et al (2015) show that mobile news use is characterized by frequent, brief checks to see what is new. Molyneux's (2018) results reveal that news sessions on smartphones are shorter than on other platforms. Furthermore, he links the concept of snacking to a lower quality of the content and to less knowledge on issues important for civic engagement.…”

Do Smartphones Create a Coordination Problem for Face‐to‐Face Interaction? Leveraging Game Theory to Understand and Solve the Smartphone Dilemma

“…[ 22 ] The smartphone provides an almost infinite content choice for the committed surfer that can be consumed in “snack” sized portions multiple times per day. [ 23 ] In contrast, reading a newspaper at the breakfast table signals precisely what is being consumed, being easy to pause or resume, enter into conversation, and catch interactions such as a glance or smile along the way. Traditional print media also provides those all‐important decision points for stopping.…”

Mobile First Journalism: an analysis of Circa News’ mobile notifications

“…Connected to that, one of the main aspects of the consumption of mobile media is the habit of "snacking", a pattern described by Molyneux (2018) as consuming content in short sessions along the day, often with low attention, instead of a long, focused dive into the content. That does not mean mobile users only get information in this fashion, since mobile users normally consume content in several platforms, complementarily.…”