Online and (the feeling of being) informed: Online news usage patterns and their relation to subjective and objective political knowledge

Effects of Incidental Brief Exposure to News on News Knowledge While Scrolling Through Videos

“…In contrast, people use social media for checking friends' recent posts and feelings rather than news, i.e. much of news exposure seems to be incidental [22], [23], [27]. In other words, very weak incidental exposure, such as incidental brief exposure while scrolling through videos, can only reinforce incidental exposure, as in the above scenario.…”

“…Additionally, incidental exposure facilitate news seeking of people who are disinterested in news [25]. As a result, the effect of incidental exposure of social media [22], [23], [27] can be reinforced by incidental brief exposure while scrolling through videos. Increasing political interest increases political knowledge via more frequent usage of news media [52].…”

“…Incidental exposure on a portal site seems to facilitate news seeking behavior of people who are disinterested in the news [25]. News-related posts on social media can motivate users to access the complete news article on news media [27].…”

“…Diversifying media have also increased the number of accessible media. As a result, people may be exposed several times to the same news in diverse media repertoires [12], [27], [37]- [40]. Similarly, we can assume that involuntarily memorizing keywords related to political news by incidental brief exposure on ABEMA facilitates delving into political news when exposed to the news in news media.…”

Do News Actually “Find Me”? Using Digital Behavioral Data to Study the News-Finds-Me Phenomenon

“…One key factor that drives differences in online news exposure is the level of activity people engage in to stay informed. While various studies have found political interest and knowledge to be strong predictors of active news use (e.g., Lecheler & de Vreese, 2017;Strömbäck & Shehata, 2019), recent research has demonstrated the prevalence of a more passive mode of news use, showing that some people are less willing to actively invest into staying informed about current news and political affairs (e.g., Kim et al, 2013;Lee & Xenos, 2020;Leonhard et al, 2020).…”