Students and Social News

Abstract

The growth of new media is changing how news organizations publish their work, and the explosion of social networks is changing the way news consumers of all ages share information. As news outlets face an uncertain future and try to reach younger, newer audiences, the rapid growth of mobile devices means new opportunities to create, share, and consume news content. This study examines how young news consumers share and consume news content, specifically whether they are more likely to get news through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) or directly through news sources (news stations, newspapers, websites, and mobile apps). The findings here indicate that students may hear of news through social media, but rely on other internet sources to confirm it. Local news does not seem to carry as much weight with them, but they can be persuaded to pay attention to their college towns, if only for community news and information. The findings of this study could help producers of news content tailor their information to fit these new “publishing” formats to maintain (or perhaps increase) their audience.

News Sharing in Social Media: A Review of Current Research on News Sharing Users, Content, and Networks

“…While some researchers focus on social media and news sharing strategies of news organizations or journalists (e.g., Lasorsa, Lewis, & Holton, 2012;Navarro-Maillo, 2013;Stassen, 2011;Verweij, 2012), most studies dedicate their attention to the average user and questions about his or her sharing-related features. Features deemed relevant in investigations include (perceived) opinion leadership (e.g., Hu et al, 2012;Ma, Lee, & Goh, 2013Wu, Hofman, Mason, & Watts, 2011), tie strength and homophily (e.g., Bakshy, Rosenn, Marlow, & Adamic, 2012;Choudhury, Sundaram, John, Seligmann, & Kelliher, 2010;Ma et al, 2013Ma et al, , 2014Susarla, Oh, & Tan, 2012), activity on the social media platform (e.g., Choudhury et al, 2010;Ferrara, Interdonato, & Tagarelli, 2014;Horan, 2013), number of followers or friends (e.g., Bakshy, Hofman, Mason, & Watts, 2011;Hong, Dan, & Davison, 2011;Wu et al, 2011), and news and content preferences (e.g., Hermida, Fletcher, Korell, & Logan, 2012;Himelboim, Hansen, & Bowser, 2013;Lehmann, Castillo, Lalmas, & Zuckerman, 2013;Romero et al, 2011;Rosengard, Tucker-McLaughlin, & Brown, 2014;Sun, Rosenn, Marlow, & Lento, 2009;Weeks & Holbert, 2013). The results of these studies suggest that people who share news in social media perceive themselves as opinion leaders and tend to have lots of friends or followers.…”

“…They usually have a rich media diet and use multiple sources for information purposes. Furthermore, people who read news via social media and/or follow news organizations and people with a positive attitude toward sharing seem to be more likely to actually engage in news sharing (e.g., Rosengard et al, 2014;Weeks & Holbert, 2013;Yang, Chang, Hsiao, & Chen, 2014). But also more situational factors can influence news sharing behavior.…”

Active audiences and social discussion on the digital public sphere. Review article

“…Also linked to the issue of leadership is the social network user's perception of their own position in relation to public affairs. As pointed out by Kalogeropoulos et al (2017), those citizens who share most frequently are more connected (Couldry; Livingstone; Markham, 2007) with public affairs: they tend to follow more, and more varied, media, perceiving the sharing of diverse news as positive (Rosengard et al, 2014;Yang;Chang;Chen, 2014). In this sense, the factor of connection with the offline world is very important.…”

Active audiences and social discussion on the digital public sphere. Review article

“…Also linked to the issue of leadership is the social network user's perception of their own position in relation to public affairs. As pointed out by Kalogeropoulos et al (2017), those citizens who share most frequently are more connected (Couldry; Livingstone; Markham, 2007) with public affairs: they tend to follow more, and more varied, media, perceiving the sharing of diverse news as positive (Rosengard et al, 2014;Yang;Chang;Chen, 2014). In this sense, the factor of connection with the offline world is very important.…”