Cannabis Ruderalis

thcscience_admin

Social media as a news source is the use of online social media platforms rather than moreover traditional media platforms to obtain news. Just as television turned a nation of people who listened to media content into watchers of media content in the 1950s to the 1980s, the emergence of social media has created a nation of media content creators. Almost half of Americans use social media as a news source, according to the Pew Research Center.[1]

As a participatory platform that allows for user-generated content[2][3] and sharing content within one's own virtual network,[4][2] using social media as a news source allows users to engage with news in a variety of ways,[5] including:

Relationship to traditional news sources[edit]

Unlike traditional news platforms such as newspapers and news shows, social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp, allow people without professional journalistic backgrounds to create news and cover events that news agencies might not cover.[6][7][8]

Social media users may read a set of news that differs slightly from what newspaper editors prioritize in the print press.[9] A 2019 study found Facebook and Twitter users are more likely to share politics, public affairs, and visual media news.[10] Social media users may circulate more negative news. A study of tweets found that while optimistic-sounding and neutral-sounding tweets were equally likely to express certainty or uncertainty, the pessimistic tweets were nearly twice as likely to appear certain of an outcome than uncertain.[11] These results could imply that posts of a more pessimistic nature that are also written with an air of certainty are more likely to be shared or otherwise permeate groups on Twitter. A similar bias towards negativity has developed on Facebook, where internal memos revealed that an algorithm built to promote "meaningful social interaction" actually incentivized publishers to promote negative and sensational news.[12] Biases towards negativity need to be considered when the utility of new media is addressed, as the potential for human opinion to over-emphasize any particular news story is greater despite general improvement.[13]

In order to compete in this rapidly changing technological environment, there has been an upheaval of traditional news sources onto online spaces.[14] The production and circulation of newspaper prints have continued to globally decline in accordance with the increasing presence of news outlets on social media.[15] Prominent platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have been key in engaging users through the integration of journalistic news into their newsfeeds.[16] This feature has now become a foundational part of these apps' interfaces.

Social media incentivizes both legacy news brands and individual professional journalists to share their reporting and interact with audiences on social platforms to boost engagement.[17] However, most people who consume news on social media report that accessing news is not their main motivation for being on social media, but rather, they see and consume news incidentally.[18] Nonetheless, informational interviews reveal that these consumers rely on being informed through social media.[19] Some news consumers attest that a news brand's participation in social media does not improve their trust in the brand and that more in-depth reporting and more transparency about biases would improve trust instead.[20]

Use as a news source by adults[edit]

Globally, data from 2020 shows that over 70% of adult participants from Kenya, South Africa, Chile, Bulgaria, Greece, and Argentina utilized social media for news while those from France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan were reportedly less than 40 percent.[21]

According to the Pew Research Center, 20% of adults in the United States in 2018 said they get their news from social media "often," compared to 16% who said they often get news from print newspapers, 26% who often get it from the radio, 33% who often get it from news websites, and 49% who often get it from TV.[22] The same survey found that social media was the most popular way for American adults age 18–29 to get news, the second-to-last most popular way for Americans age 20–49 to get news, and the least popular way for American adults age 50-64 and 65+ to get the news.

In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that over half of Americans (54%) either got their news "sometimes" or "often" from social media, and Facebook was the most popular social media site where American adults got their news.[23] However, at least 50% off all respondents reported that the following were either a "very big problem" or a "moderately big problem" for getting news on social media:

  • One-sided news (83%)
  • Inaccurate news (81%)
  • Censorship of the news (69%)
  • Uncivil discussions about the news (69%)
  • Harassment of journalists (57%)
  • News organizations or personalities being banned (53%)
  • Violent or disturbing news images or videos (51%)

In a later survey from the same year, the Pew Research Center reported that 18% of American adults reported that the most common way they get news about politics and the election was from social media.[24]

Use of Social Media Platforms (In General and as News Sources) by American Adults in 2019[25]
Social media platform Percent who use platform Percent who get news or news headlines on platform
Facebook 71% 52%
YouTube 74% 28%
Twitter 23% 17%
Instagram 38% 14%
LinkedIn 27% 8%
Reddit 13% 8%
Snapchat 23% 6%
WhatsApp 18% 4%
Tumblr 4% 1%
Twitch 5% 1%
TikTok 3% 0%

Use as a news source by young people[edit]

Globally, there is evidence that through social media, youth have become more directly involved in protests,[26] social campaigns [27] and generally, in the sharing of news across multiple platforms.[28]

In the United States, Common Sense Media conducted a 2020 nationally representative survey of American teens (ages 13–18) that found that the most common way teens got news was from personalities, influencers, and celebrities followed on social media or YouTube (39%), despite trusting this type of news source less than other forms, such as local newspapers or local TV news networks.[29] The most commonly mentioned sources on social media or YouTube included PewDiePie, Trevor Noah, CNN, Donald Trump, and Beyoncé.

Popularity and Trust of Different News Sources by U.S. Teens Ages 13–18 in 2020[29]
News source Percent who get news "often" from source Percent who trust information from the source "a lot"
Personalities/influencers/celebrities followed on social media or YouTube 39% 15%
News aggregators (e.g., Google news) 27% 18%
Digital media outlets/blogs (e.g., Buzzfeed) 21% 10%
Traditional TV news networks 16% 21%
Local newspapers/TV shows 13% 28%
Comedy shows (e.g., Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) 9% 7%
Podcasts 9% 6%
Traditional print/online newspapers 6% 22%

This popularity of using social media as a news source in the United States is consistent with previous data. Based on interviews with 61 teenagers, conducted from December 2007 to February 2011, most of the teen participants from American high schools reported reading print newspapers only "sometimes," with fewer than 10% reading them daily. The teenagers instead reported learning about current events from social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and blogs.[30]

Effects on individual and collective memory[edit]

News media and television journalism have been a key feature in the shaping of American collective memory for much of the twentieth century.[31][32] Indeed, since the United States' colonial era, news media has influenced collective memory and discourse about national development and trauma. In many ways, mainstream journalists have maintained an authoritative voice as the storytellers of the American past. Their documentary style narratives, detailed exposes, and their positions in the present make them prime sources for public memory. Specifically, news media journalists have shaped collective memory on nearly every major national event – from the deaths of social and political figures to the progression of political hopefuls. Journalists provide elaborate descriptions of commemorative events in U.S. history and contemporary popular cultural sensations. Many Americans learn the significance of historical events and political issues through news media, as they are presented on popular news stations.[33] However, journalistic influence is growing less important, whereas social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, provide a constant supply of alternative news sources for users.

As social networking becomes more popular among older and younger generations, sites such as Facebook and YouTube, gradually undermine the traditionally authoritative voices of news media. For example, American citizens contest media coverage of various social and political events as they see fit, inserting their voices into the narratives about America's past and present and shaping their own collective memories.[34][35] An example of this is the public explosion of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford, Florida. News media coverage of the incident was minimal until social media users made the story recognizable through their constant discussion of the case. Approximately one month after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, its online coverage by everyday Americans garnered national attention from mainstream media journalists, in turn exemplifying media activism. In some ways, the spread of this tragic event through alternative news sources parallels that of Emmett Till – whose murder by lynching in 1955 became a national story after it was circulated in African-American and Communist newspapers.

Societal examples[edit]

On October 2, 2013, the most common hashtag throughout the United States was "#governmentshutdown", as well as ones focusing on political parties, Barack Obama, and healthcare. Most news sources have Twitter, and Facebook, pages, like CNN and the New York Times, providing links to their online articles, getting an increased readership. Additionally, several college news organizations and administrators have Twitter pages as a way to share news and connect to students.[36] According to "Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2013",[37] in the US, among those who use social media to find news, 47% of these people are under 45 years old, and 23% are above 45 years old. However social media as a main news gateway does not follow the same pattern across countries. For example, in this report, in Brazil, 60% of the respondents said social media was one of the five most important ways to find news online, 45% in Spain, 17% in the UK, 38% in Italy, 14% in France, 22% in Denmark, 30% in the U.S., and 12% in Japan.[37] Moreover, there are differences among countries about commenting on news in social networks, 38% of the respondents in Brazil said they commented on news in social network in a week. These percentages are 21% in the U.S. and 10% in the UK. The authors argued that differences among countries may be due to culture difference rather than different levels of access to technical tools.[37]

Protesters from the 2011 Arab Spring protest in Aden, Al Mansoora.

An influential example of social media making news more accessible and widely spread is the Arab Spring. Protesters used social media platforms, to create plans for in person protests and to spread video and images captured from the events that were created online.[38]

Rainie and Wellman have argued that media making now has become a participation work,[39] which changes communication systems. The center of power is shifted from only the media (as the gatekeeper) to the peripheral area, which may include government, organizations, and out to the edge, the individual.[40] These changes in communication systems raise empirical questions about trust to media effect. Prior empirical studies have shown that trust in information sources plays a major role in people's decision making.[41] People's attitudes more easily change when they hear messages from trustworthy sources. In the Reuters report, 27% of respondents agree that they worry about the accuracy of a story on a blog.[37] However, 40% of them believe the stories on blogs are more balanced than traditional papers because they are provided with a range of opinions. Recent research has shown that in the new social media communication environment, the civil or uncivil nature of comments will bias people's information processing even if the message is from a trustworthy source,[42] which bring the practical and ethical question about the responsibility of communicator in the social media environment.

The case study on the 2013 urban protests in Brazil reflects how digital communication form a new type of e-democracy in mass societies.[43] The case study reveals how Brazilians used social media to organize manifestations regarding cost of public transportation, violence, homophobia, and corruption. The young population dominated the demonstrations. They posted videos and pictures on WhatsApp chat groups, created online events on Facebook, and gathered over 250.000 protestors on the streets. Consequently, Brazilians were able to modify functions in an institutionalized system, not only by promoting awareness on certain social problems, but also by inducing president Dilma Rousseff's impeachment in 2016.[43]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Walker, Mason; Matsa, Katerina Eva (2021-09-20). "News Consumption Across Social Media in 2021". Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  2. ^ a b Obar, Jonathan A.; Wildman, Steve (2015). "Social media definition and the governance challenge: An introduction to the special issue". Telecommunications Policy. 39 (9): 745–750. doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2015.07.014. SSRN 2647377.
  3. ^ Kaplan Andreas M.; Haenlein Michael (2010). "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media" (PDF). Business Horizons. 53 (1): 61. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-24. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  4. ^ Kietzmann, Jan H.; Kristopher Hermkens (2011). "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media". Business Horizons (Submitted manuscript). 54 (3): 241–251. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.005.
  5. ^ Anderson, Monica; Caumont, Andrea (2014). "How social media is reshaping news". Pew Research Center.
  6. ^ Rosen, Jay. "The People Formally Known as the Audience". PressThink. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  7. ^ Andrejevic, Mark (2013). "Public Service Media Utilities: Rethinking Search Engines and Social Networking as Public Goods". Media International Australia. 146 (1): 123–132. doi:10.1177/1329878x1314600116. ISSN 1329-878X. S2CID 107705623.
  8. ^ Jeljeli, R.; Setoutah, S.; Farhi, F. (2021). "Citizen-Journalist Dilemma Between Media Freedom and Professionalism". Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana. 26 (Esp.1): 394–406.
  9. ^ Bastos, Marco Toledo (2014). "Shares, Pins, and Tweets" (PDF). Journalism Studies. 16 (3): 305–25. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2014.891857. S2CID 142024148.
  10. ^ Martin, Fiona (2019), Martin, Fiona; Dwyer, Tim (eds.), "What We Share: Genre and Topicality on Facebook and Twitter", Sharing News Online: Commendary Cultures and Social Media News Ecologies, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 129–156, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17906-9_5, ISBN 978-3-030-17906-9, retrieved 2021-11-24
  11. ^ Runge, Kristin K.; Yeo, Sara K.; Cacciatore, Michael; Scheufele, Dietram A.; Brossard, Dominique; Xenos, Michael; Anderson, Ashley; Choi, Doo-hun; Kim, Jiyoun; Li, Nan; Liang, Xuan (January 2013). "Tweeting nano: how public discourses about nanotechnology develop in social media environments". Journal of Nanoparticle Research. 15 (1): 1381. doi:10.1007/s11051-012-1381-8. ISSN 1388-0764.
  12. ^ Horwitz, Keach Hagey and Jeff (2021-09-15). "Facebook Tried to Make Its Platform a Healthier Place. It Got Angrier Instead". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  13. ^ Gerhards, Jürgen; Schäfer, Mike (2010). "Is the internet a better public sphere? Comparing old and new media in the USA and Germany" (PDF). New Media & Society. 12 (1): 143–160. doi:10.1177/1461444809341444. S2CID 15949692. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-18.
  14. ^ "Digital News Report 2021". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  15. ^ cycles, This text provides general information Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct Due to varying update; Text, Statistics Can Display More up-to-Date Data Than Referenced in the. "Topic: Newspaper Industry in Australia". Statista. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  16. ^ Mitchell, Amy; Rosenstiel, Tom; Christian, Leah (2012-03-19). "What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News". Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  17. ^ Powers, Matthew; Vera-Zambrano, Sandra (2018-08-01). "How journalists use social media in France and the United States: Analyzing technology use across journalistic fields". New Media & Society. 20 (8): 2728–2744. doi:10.1177/1461444817731566. ISSN 1461-4448.
  18. ^ "How and why do consumers access news on social media?". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  19. ^ Bergström, Annika; Jervelycke Belfrage, Maria (2018-05-28). "News in Social Media". Digital Journalism. 6 (5): 583–598. doi:10.1080/21670811.2018.1423625. ISSN 2167-0811.
  20. ^ Fisher, Caroline; Park, Sora; Flew, Terry. "How can we restore trust in media? Fewer biases and conflicts of interest, a new study shows". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  21. ^ "Usage of social media as a news source worldwide 2020". Statista. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  22. ^ Shearer, Elisa (December 10, 2018). "Social media outpaces print newspapers in the U.S. as a news source". Pew Research Center.
  23. ^ Shearer, Elisa; Grieco, Elizabeth (2019). "Americans Are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News". Pew Research Center.
  24. ^ Mitchell, Amy; Jurkowitz, Mark; Oliphant, J. Baxter; Shearer, Elisa (July 30, 2020). "Americans Who Mainly Get Their News on Social Media Are Less Engaged, Less Knowledgeable". Pew Research Center.
  25. ^ Castells, Manuel (2004). The Network Society. doi:10.4337/9781845421663. ISBN 9781845421663.
  26. ^ Valenzuela, Sebastián; Arriagada, Arturo; Scherman, Andrés (April 2012). "The Social Media Basis of Youth Protest Behavior: The Case of Chile". Journal of Communication. 62 (2): 299–314. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01635.x.
  27. ^ Lee, Chul-joo (March 2014). "The Role of Social Capital in Health Communication Campaigns: The Case of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign". Communication Research. 41 (2): 208–235. doi:10.1177/0093650212446332. ISSN 0093-6502. S2CID 36897725.
  28. ^ Sihombing, Sabrina Oktaria (2017). "Predicting intention to share news through social media: An empirical analysis in Indonesian youth context". Business and Economic Horizons. 13 (4): 468–477. doi:10.15208/beh.2017.32.
  29. ^ a b Robb, Michael, B. (2020). "Teens and the news: The influencers, celebrities, and platforms they say matter most, 2020". Common Sense Media.
  30. ^ Marchi, R. (2012). "With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic 'Objectivity'". Journal of Communication Inquiry. 36 (3): 246–62. doi:10.1177/0196859912458700. S2CID 145374582.
  31. ^ Kitch, Carolyn (2002). "Anniversary Journalism, Collective Memory, and the Cultural Authority to Tell the Story of the American Past". Journal of Popular Culture. 36: 44–67. doi:10.1111/1540-5931.00030. S2CID 161675942.
  32. ^ Edy, Jill (1999). "Journalistic Uses of Collective Memory". Journal of Communication. 49 (2): 71–85. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1999.tb02794.x.
  33. ^ Pajala, Mary (2012). "Television as an Archive of Memory?". Critical Studies in Television. 5 (2): 133–145. doi:10.7227/cst.5.2.16. S2CID 156717273.
  34. ^ Motti Neiger, Oren Meyers, and Eyal Zandberg. On Media Memory: Collective Memory in a New Media Age. New York : Palgrave MacMillan, 2011
  35. ^ Barnhurst, Kevin; Wartella, Ellen (1998). "Young Citizens, American TV Newscasts and the Collective Memory". Critical Studies in Mass Media. 15 (3): 279–305. doi:10.1080/15295039809367049.
  36. ^ "» What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News". stateofthemedia.org. 18 March 2012.
  37. ^ a b c d Newman, N.; Levy, D. (2013). "Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2013" (PDF). reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-07.
  38. ^ Bruns, Axel; Highfield, Tim; Burgess, Jean (2013-06-17). "The Arab Spring and Social Media Audiences". American Behavioral Scientist. 57 (7): 871–898. doi:10.1177/0002764213479374. ISSN 0002-7642. S2CID 67817464.
  39. ^ Rainie, Lee & Wellman, Barry (2012-04-27). Networked: The New Social Operating System. ISBN 9780262300407.
  40. ^ Rosen, Jay (30 June 2006). "The People Formerly Known as the Audience". Huffington Post.
  41. ^ Renn, Ortwin; Levine, Debra (1990). "Credibility and trust in risk communication". In Roger E. Kasperson; Pieter Jan M. Stallen (eds.). Communicating Risks to the Public International Perspectives (Submitted manuscript). Technology, Risk, and Society. Vol. 4. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 175–217. doi:10.1007/978-94-009-1952-5_10. ISBN 978-94-009-1952-5.
  42. ^ Brossard, D. (Aug 2013). "New media landscapes and the science information consumer". PNAS. 110 (Suppl 3): 14096–101. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11014096B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1212744110. PMC 3752175. PMID 23940316.
  43. ^ a b Holston, James (2014-06-01). ""Come to the Street!": Urban Protest, Brazil 2013". Anthropological Quarterly. 87 (3): 887–900. doi:10.1353/anq.2014.0047. S2CID 144680562.
source: https://web.archive.org/web/20220222103757/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_as_a_news_source

Leave a Reply