Internet,News, and Political Trust: The Difference Between Social Media and Online Media Outlets

What is the relationship between Internet usage and political trust? To answer this question, we performed a cross‐sectional analysis of Eurobarometer survey data related to 27 countries and a supervised sentiment analysis of online political information broadcast during the Italian debate on the reform of public funding of parties. The results disclose the differences between Web 1.0 websites and Web 2.0 social media, showing that consumption of news from information/news websites is positively associated with higher trust, while access to information available on social media is linked with lower trust. This has implications for the debate on social media as a public sphere and for the tension between professional and citizen journalism.     

Facebook,the Third‐Person Effect,and the Differential Impact Hypothesis

This study examined the effects of embedding and framing online news stories in social media contexts on perceived message influence and third‐person effects (3PE). 88 undergraduates at a Northeastern U.S. university participated in an online experiment in which they evaluated news stories posted on Facebook. A 4 x 2 mixed experimental design was used with the between‐subject variables of viewing condition (no Facebook frame, neutral Facebook, positive Facebook evaluation, and negative Facebook evaluation) and the within‐subjects factor of story relevance (Low, High). Results indicate that perceptions of personal influence increase in social media contexts for more personally relevant stories. These results are consistent with the Differential Impact Hypothesis.     

Habitual Facebook Use and its Impact on Getting Deceived on Social Media

There are a billion Facebook users worldwide with some individuals spending 8 hours each day on the platform. Limited research has, however, explored the consequences of such overuse. Even less research has examined the misuse of social media by criminals who are increasingly using social media to defraud individuals through phishing‐type attacks. The current study focuses on Facebook habits and its determinants and the extent to which they ultimately influence individual susceptibility to social media phishing attacks. The results suggest that habitual Facebook use, founded on the individual frequently using Facebook, maintaining a large social network, and being deficient in their ability to regulate such behaviors, is the single biggest predictor of individual victimization in social media attacks.     

All the news that’s fit to post: A profile of news use on social networking sites

Facebook and other social networking sites (SNSs)¹ are altering the way individuals communicate. These online environments allow users to keep up with friends, network with colleagues, and share their personal views and observations with others. Previous work describes typical social networking site users as young, extroverted, and technologically savvy. Little research exists, however, on the emerging role of news in the social network environment. With over 500 million global Facebook users, both print and television based media outlets are making concerted efforts to become part of this important and increasingly ubiquitous virtual world. The present study uses a sample of students, faculty, and staff from a large university to investigate the factors that are related to news use on Facebook. Findings indicate that while news use is still a minor component of overall social network site activity, certain key variables, such as gender and life satisfaction, have a significant impact on how Facebook is used for news-related purposes. Future implications for news in the social networking world are presented and discussed.     

Effects of the News‐Finds‐Me Perception in Communication: Social Media Use Implications for News Seeking and Learning About Politics

With social media at the forefront of today's media context, citizens may perceive they don't need to actively seek news because they will be exposed to news and remain well‐informed through their peers and social networks. We label this the “news‐finds‐me perception,” and test its implications for news seeking and political knowledge: “news‐finds‐me effects.” U.S. panel‐survey data show that individuals who perceive news will find them are less likely to use traditional news sources and are less knowledgeable about politics over time. Although the news‐finds‐me perception is positively associated with news exposure on social media, this behavior doesn't facilitate political learning. These results suggest news continues to enhance political knowledge best when actively sought.     

Social Media Use for News and Individuals' Social Capital,Civic Engagement and Political Participation

Recently, scholars tested how digital media use for informational purposes similarly contributes to foster democratic processes and the creation of social capital. Nevertheless, in the context of today's socially‐networked‐society and the rise of social media applications (i.e., Facebook) new perspectives need to be considered. Based on U.S. national data, results show that after controlling for demographic variables, traditional media use offline and online, political constructs (knowledge and efficacy), and frequency and size of political discussion networks, seeking information via social network sites is a positive and significant predictor of people's social capital and civic and political participatory behaviors, online and offline.     

Social Media and Trust during the Gezi Protests in Turkey

The Gezi Protests, an environmental sit‐in that turned into a social movement in Turkey, is often compared to the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement with regard to the importance attributed to social media. This paper examines the role that social media played during the protests, with an emphasis on how trust was built and maintained among the protestors. In‐depth interviews with 21 active Gezi protestors revealed that social trust and system trust were intertwined in actual practices. On one side, technological affordances worked as an interface that facilitated social identification, which helped in trusting the person behind the information. On the other side, technological affordances themselves invited different levels of trust, subject to both physical constraints and technological barriers.     

Media multitasking during political news consumption: A relationship with factual and subjective political knowledge

Growth of digital, social, and mobile media has enabled engagement with multiple media activities during news consumption in a more efficient and synchronous fashion than before. This study investigates whether media multitasking activities while consuming political news affects individuals' levels of subjective and factual political knowledge. Results from a Web survey of online panel members show that on the whole, pairwise and bundled forms of media multitasking are negatively related to factual political knowledge. Also, those who engage in media multitasking are more likely to report that they are politically knowledgeable but they do not know about politics as much as they think they do. Implications are discussed for media multitasking and an informed citizenry.     

Disclosures about important life events on Facebook: Relationships with stress and quality of life

The current study examined the relationship between general perceived levels of stress, quality of life, social networking usage, and disclosing important life events on Facebook in order to better understand the complex relationship between online disclosure and individual well-being. An online survey was completed by adult Facebook users aged 18–70. Results indicate that the more time spent on and the more social network memberships, the higher stress and lower quality of life; Facebook-specific usage was unrelated to either well-being variable. Together, these findings suggest that the current increase in social media variety and usage may be detrimental to user well-being. Users who shared important, bad health news on Facebook had higher stress and lower quality of life than those who did not, with no significant differences for sharing good health news. The more that users did not share important news on Facebook for self-protection and friend unresponsiveness reasons, the greater their stress. The self-protection reason was also negatively related to quality of life. These inconsistent findings can likely be partially explained by the nature of the information that is shared. These findings are discussed in light of disclosure and relationship patterns on social networks.     

The Double‐Edged Sword: The Effects of Journalists' Social Media Activities on Audience Perceptions of Journalists and Their News Products

As social media become popular news platforms, journalists and news organizations have been keen to capitalize on their potential to build and maintain audiences. However, little is known about the extent to which these efforts may have adverse implications. Based on normative theories, the present study investigates the influence of journalists' social media activities (specifically, self‐disclosure and interaction with other users) on audience perceptions of journalists. An experiment (N = 267) revealed that: Although both journalists' self‐disclosure and interaction positively influenced audience perceptions of the journalists in the personal dimension, interaction negatively influenced audience perceptions in the professional dimension; and the perceptions transferred to perceptions of news products, thereby mediating the relationship between journalists' social media activities and audience news perceptions.     

Some of these things are not like the others: Examining motivations and political predispositions among political Facebook activity

Political engagement via social media has evolved, and web sites including Facebook continue to be a place for individuals, especially young ones, to engage politically. Because politics on social media is diverse, it makes sense that the reasons for participating in it vary. In addition, because current events information and political news is accessible via social media, the role of attention to traditional news sources in this type of political engagement is debatable. The study takes up the opportunity to address these questions by examining young people’s attention to television, print, and online news, their engagement with four Facebook political activities, and their psychological motivations for using the website politically just prior to the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. The results suggest that the primary motivations for using Facebook politically are not universal, and indeed vary by activity. They revolve around connecting with others socially, sharing information with others, and presenting oneself to others. In addition, attention to offline and online news largely do not matter. The study moves research forward by describing the variety of psychological predispositions some Facebook users bring to their political engagement with the web site, and how these predispositions vary across different Facebook political behavior.     

流媒体技术分析及其在新闻网站的应用

随着互联网的普及和多媒体技术的发展,流媒体依靠其强大的技术优势迅速渗透到社会生活的各个领域。在国际上,对webcasting（或webcaster）的研究已经成为网络传播研究的一项重要课题。本文以流媒体的概念为切入点,深入分析了流媒体系统及其关键技术,研究了流媒体技术在新闻网站中的应用。     

Posting,commenting, and tagging: Effects of sharing news stories on Facebook

Social networking sites such as Facebook provide new ways of sharing news stories that allow users to act as opinion leaders in their networks, encourage discussion, and potentially increase their involvement in current events. This study identifies the particular features of Facebook that facilitate the discussion of news and tests their effects on involvement and feelings of influence. Participants (N = 265) in a 3 (Broadcast level: news feed vs. wall post vs. direct message) × 3 (Elaboration: opinion vs. question vs. no comment) × 2 (Involving-friends: tag vs. no tag) between-subjects factorial experiment were randomly assigned to share a story from a news website on Facebook. Results show that user involvement in the news content depends on the social affordances of the site, particularly those that allow for audience customization and those that drive network feedback. Asking the network’s opinions and targeting specific friends led to greater involvement in the news content. Discussion through comments led to a greater sense of influence and greater involvement for those sharing the news story. These findings highlight the importance of encouraging individuals to act as sources of information in their networks to drive engagement in current events in the changing news landscape.     

Communication in the face of a school crisis: Examining the volume and content of social media mentions during active shooter incidents

Little is known about the effectiveness of social media in delivering information during active shooter incidents at the P-12 level. This study analyzed social media activity that occurred during and after two active shooter events on September 30, 2014. Over 5000 social media posts from Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and mainstream news outlets were analyzed. Social media analysis outlined the scope of online communication during the first week following the incidents, revealed social media frequency, increases in conversation, misinformation, and differences between parent and student posts. Results revealed spikes in social media chatter following the release of the identities of shooters and victims. Consistent with media dependency theory and the high levels of uncertainty characteristic of the incident, users’ social media posts contained more information than affect displays during the active shooter event. Implications for scholars and P-12 administrators are discussed.     

Understanding civic engagement behaviour on Facebook from a social capital theory perspective

This paper applies the social capital theory to construct a model for investigating the factors that influence online civic engagement behaviour on Facebook. While there is promising evidence that people are making concerted efforts to adopt Facebook to address social issues, research on their civic behaviour from a social capital viewpoint in the social media context remains limited. This study introduces new insights into how Facebook is shaping the landscape of civic engagement by examining three dimensions of social capital – social interaction ties (structural), trust (relational), and shared languages and vision (cognitive). The study contends that these dimensions will influence individuals’ online civic engagement behaviour on Facebook. We also argue that social interaction ties can engender trust, and shared languages and vision among its members, and that shared languages and vision can increase trust among Facebook members. Empirical data collected from 1233 Facebook users provide support for the proposed model. The results help in identifying the motivation underlying the online civic engagement behaviour of individuals in a public virtual community. The implications for theory and practice and future research directions are discussed.     

面向社会媒体的信息抽取：任务、挑战与机遇

社会媒体是人们用来分享意见、见解、观念和经验的平台或工具,目前已经发展成具有日益重大影响力的新媒体。面向社会媒体的信息抽取就是要从充满噪音的、零碎的、非结构化的社会媒体的自由文本中提取有价值的结构化的信息,以利于从社会媒体内容中有效地获取信息。介绍了面向社会媒体的信息抽取这一任务的诞生背景、要解决的主要问题、面l临的主要挑战、相关工作以及未来的研究方向。     

The effects of social media on students’ behaviors; Facebook as a case study

Social networks are one of the most used communication methods of today's world. Their use in different fields has been examined in several research studies. This study aims to examine the effects of social media on student's behaviors which will mainly focus on Facebook. Whether there is a positive relationship between confidence, social media participation and social media related behaviors will also be assed with regard to using Facebook. In order to collect the primary data, a general scanning model was used to observe attitudes of high school students. The participants chosen were 362 high school students from level 9 to 12. The findings highlight that Facebook is used for communication entertainment and sharing news, pictures and songs. In addition, their Facebook profile picture is alone and students were aware that swearing is considered a form of misconduct, which is a good sign. The study also indicates that students were aware of protecting their social identity as their Facebook shares are not public. Furthermore, they respect privacy as they do not use their friend's Facebook account.     

Ferguson on Facebook: Political persuasion in a new era of media effects

In 2014, media outlets deemed political satirist John Oliver's show the best of the year. Described as “the online water-cooler,” his show has become a talking point for many on social media. In this study, we tested the effects of such political comedy and the influence of social pressure in a simulated Facebook environment (N = 189). Participants in this experiment were asked to view a video clip from Oliver's show (high or low salience topic) and in two of the four conditions, a series of Facebook comments contradicting Oliver's views (as a form of social pressure) were provided. Results support a message-consistent persuasive effect of political comedy for both high and low salience issues but finds that message-incongruent commentary reduces this persuasive effect. Thus, the current study provides further insight regarding persuasive effects of sharing political information on social media and new opportunities for exposing entertainment seekers to politics.     

Incidental Exposure,Selective Exposure,and Political Information Sharing: Integrating Online Exposure Patterns and Expression on Social Media

Political information sharing in social media offers citizens opportunities to engage with news and express their political views, but how do different patterns of online political information exposure, including both incidental and selective exposure, affect sharing? Using two‐wave panel survey data collected in the United States, we examine the relationship between incidental and selective exposure and their consequent links to political information sharing, across different levels of strength of political party affiliation. Our results demonstrate that incidental exposure to counter‐attitudinal information drives stronger partisans to more actively seek out like‐minded political content, which subsequently encourages political information sharing on social media. The results highlight the need to consider both types of political information exposure when modeling citizens' political behavior online.     

Disentangling rhetorical subarenas of public health crisis communication: A study of the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak in the news media and social media in Sweden

Drawing on rhetorical arena theory, this study investigates the variations of content across communication channels (subarenas), guided by different media logics, during the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak. Restricting the study to one country, Sweden, a content analysis was conducted of two national newspapers (in total 848 articles), their posts on branded Facebook pages (47) and user comments on these Facebook posts (1,661). Some conclusions to be made are, that content differed between subarenas, with Facebook news being more sensational and focused on human interest stories, and Facebook comments to a greater extent related to other current socio‐political issues. Also, news media were more alarmist than Facebook comments, although alarmism declined on all subarenas as the danger became more tangible.