scholarly journals Network Model for Online News Media Landscape in Twitter

Information ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 277
Author(s):  
Ford Lumban Gaol ◽  
Tokuro Matsuo ◽  
Ardian Maulana

Today, most studies of audience networks analyze the landscape of the news media on the web. However, media ecology has been drastically reconfigured by the emergence of social media. In this study, we use Twitter follower data to build an online news media network that represents the pattern of news consumption in Twitter. This study adopted a weighted network model proposed by Mukerjee et al. and implemented the Filter Disparity Method suggested by Majó-Vázquez et al. to identify the most significant overlaps in the network. The implementation result on news media outlets data in three countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, shows that network analysis of follower overlap data can offer relevant insights about media diet and the way readers navigate various news sources available on social media.

Tripodos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (47) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Khan

From a century to a decade ago, the news media played a crucial role in providing the public with valuable in­formation, especially during a crisis. However, the advent of social media has brought about a change in ac­cess and distribution of the news and this may have resulted in less effec­tive health communication during this global coronavirus pandemic. These days, social media can have a great­er public reach and therefore, be the best tool to disseminate information. At the same time, there is the ques­tion of whether the important or trivial information is being shared. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of social media in providing the public with important information during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Using Great Britain as a case study, the research analysed the kind of content on the coronavirus that had gone vi­ral in online news sources in the Unit­ed Kingdom to determine whether the information that was being shared contributed or not to effective health communication. Keywords: news, viral news, online media, journalism, crisis communica­tion, coronavirus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pai-Lin Chen ◽  
Yu-Chung Cheng ◽  
Wen-Cheng Fu ◽  
Trisha T.C Lin

This panel presents four papers aiming to examine the significance of the 2018 elections and referenda to Taiwan from the perspectives of instant news, social media, the relationship between online and offline behaviors of citizens, and socially mediated activism. The authors explored media ecology, trust issues toward the audience and civic engagements of these elections and referenda. The research methods of studies presented in this panel are also diverse, ranging from computational methods, national survey, to in-depth semi-structured interview. The first paper investigates how the online news media construct “liquid reality” in the election-related contents by analyzing instant news from five major online news media outlets in Taiwan. The second paper analyzes the election-related Twitter data by topic modeling and identifies issues, in which “fake news” was in play, and how social trust influence fake news sharing on social media was further discussed. The third paper characterize how the election-related information on social media influenced the offline behavior of the political participants by conducting a nation-wide survey to examine correlation between the online political information consumption behavior and the motivation to participate in real-life political activities. The fourth paper focuses on the relationship among socially mediated activism, fake news, and trust in social media in the referenda of same-sex marriage issues. By interviewing advocacy groups, third-party fact-checking organizations, governmental authorities, and social media platforms, the response strategies to the negative influence of fake news on social activism and vulnerable groups are explored.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sílvia Majó-Vázquez ◽  
Ana S. Cardenal ◽  
Oleguer Segarra ◽  
Pol Colomer De Simón

This article empirically tests the role of legacy and digital-born news media, mapping the patterns of audience navigation across news sources and the relationship between news providers. We borrow tools from network science to bring evidence that suggest legacy news media retain control of the most central positions in the online news domain. Great progress has been made in discussing theoretically the impact of the Internet on the news media ecology. Less research attention, however, has been given to empirically testing changes in the role of legacy media and the rising prominence of digital-born outlets. To fill this gap, in this study we use the hyperlink-induced topic search algorithm, which identifies authorities by means of a hyperlink network, to show that legacy media are still the most authoritative sources in the media ecology. To further substantiate their dominant role, we also examine the structural position of news providers in the audience network. We gather navigation data from a panel of 30,000 people and use it to reproduce the network of patterns of news consumption. While legacy news media retain control of the brokerage positions for the general population, our analysis—focused on patterns of young news consumers—reveals that new digital outlets also occupy relevant positions to control the audience flow. The results of this study have substantive implications for our understanding of news organizations’ roles and how they attain authority in the digital age.


Significance The new rules follow a stand-off between Twitter and the central government last month over some posts and accounts. The government has used this stand-off as an opportunity not only to tighten rules governing social media, including Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and LinkedIn, but also those for other digital service providers including news publishers and entertainment streaming companies. Impacts Government moves against dominant social media platforms will boost the appeal of smaller platforms with light or no content moderation. Hate speech and harmful disinformation are especially hard to control and curb on smaller platforms. The new rules will have a chilling effect on online public discourse, increasing self-censorship (at the very least). Government action against online news media would undercut fundamental democratic freedoms and the right to dissent. Since US-based companies dominate key segments of the Indian digital market, India’s restrictive rules could mar India-US ties.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-148
Author(s):  
Eva Eddy

Abstract The paper focuses on one’s perception of factuality in selected online news media. A group of university students of English were approached and presented with ten statements about Sweden and asked to evaluate their truthfulness. Half of the group (informed respondents) were then advised on the ways media use to infer a narrative onto the reader, potentially influencing the way they view events, while the other half (uninformed respondents) were not made aware of this fact. The respondents were then presented with a news report describing a specific event that took place in Sweden; however, half of each group were asked to read its tabloid description while the other halves were shown the event as reported by a broadsheet (both online). They were then asked to reevaluate the statements they were presented with before and decide whether their opinions changed based on the article they had just read. The results suggest that one is inclined to believe what they read, regardless whether the source seems reliable and whether they are aware of the fact media might manipulate their audiences.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benny Nuriely ◽  
Moti Gigi ◽  
Yuval Gozansky

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the ways socio-economic issues are represented in mainstream news media and how it is consumed, understood and interpreted by Israeli young adults (YAs). It examines how mainstream media uses neo-liberal discourse, and the ways YAs internalize this ethic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome its limitations. Design/methodology/approach This was a mixed methods study. First, it undertook content analysis of the most popular Israeli mainstream news media among YAs: the online news site Ynet and the TV Channel 2 news. Second, the authors undertook semi-structured in-depth interviews with 29 Israeli YAs. The analysis is based on an online survey of 600 young Israelis, aged 18–35 years. Findings Most YAs did not perceive mainstream media as enabling a reliable understanding of the issues important to them. The content analysis revealed that self-representation of YAs is rare, and that their issues were explained, and even resolved, by older adults. Furthermore, most of YAs' problems in mainstream news media were presented using a neo-liberal perspective. Finally, from the interviews, the authors learned that YAs did not find information that could help them deal with their most pressing economic and social issue, in the content offered by mainstream media. For most of them, social media overcomes these shortcomings. Originality/value Contrary to research that has explored YAs’ consumerism of new media outlets, this article explores how YAs in Israel are constructed in the media, as well as the way in which YAs understand mainstream and new social media coverage of the issues most important to them. Using media content analysis and interviews, the authors found that Young Adults tend to be ambivalent toward media coverage. They understand the lack of media information: most of them know that they do not learn enough from the media. This acknowledgment accompanies their tendency to internalize the neo-liberal logic and conservative Israeli national culture, in which class and economic redistribution are largely overlooked. Mainstream news media uses neo-liberal discourse, and young adults internalize this logic, while simultaneously finding ways to overcome the limitations this discourse offers. They do so by turning to social media, mainly Facebook. Consequently, their behavior maintains the logic of the market, while also developing new social relations, enabled by social media.


Author(s):  
Vedran Podobnik ◽  
Daniel Ackermann ◽  
Tomislav Grubisic ◽  
Ignac Lovrek

In the Web 1.0 era, users were passive consumers of a read-only Web. However, the emergence of Web 2.0 redefined the way people use information and communication services—users evolved into prosumers that actively participate and collaborate in the ecosystem of a read-write Web. Consequently, marketing is one among many areas affected by the advent of the Web 2.0 paradigm. Web 2.0 enabled the global proliferation of social networking, which is the foundation for Social Media Marketing. Social Media Marketing represents a novel Internet marketing paradigm based on spreading brand-related messages directly from one user to another. This is also the reason why Social Media Marketing is often referred to as the viral marketing. This chapter will describe: (1) how social networking became the most popular Web 2.0 service, and (2) how social networking revolutionized Internet marketing. Both issues will be elaborated on two levels—the global and the Croatian level. The chapter will first present the evolution of social networking phenomenon which has fundamentally changed the way Internet users utilize Web services. During the first decade of 21st century, millions of people joined online communities and started using online social platforms, about 1.5 billion members of social networks globally in 2012. Furthermore, the chapter will describe how Internet marketing provided marketers with innovative marketing channels, which offer marketing campaign personalization, low-cost global access to consumers, and simple, cheap, and real-time marketing campaign tracking. Specifically, the chapter will focus on Social Media Marketing, the latest step in the Internet marketing evolution. The three most popular Social Media Marketing platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare) will be described, and examples of successful marketing case studies in Croatia will be presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 251581632097208
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Santosh Bhaskarabhatla

Background: Twitter is a leading microblogging platform, with over 126 million daily active users as of 2019, which allows for large-scale analysis of tweets related to migraine. June 2020 encompassed the National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month in the United States and the American Headache Society’s virtual annual conference, which offer opportunities for us to study online migraine advocacy. Objective: We aim to study the content of individual tweets about migraine, as well as study patterns of other topics that were discussed in those tweets. In addition, we aim to study the sources of information that people reference within their tweets. Thirdly, we want to study how online awareness and advocacy movements shape these conversations about migraine. Methods: We designed a Twitter robot that records all unique public tweets containing the word “migraine” from May 8th, 2020 to June 23rd, 2020, within a 400 km radius of New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. We built two network analysis models, one for the months of May 2020 and June 2020. The model for the month of May served as a control group for the model for the month of June, the Migraine Awareness Month. Our network model was developed with the following rule: if two hashtag topics co-exist in a single tweet, they are considered nodes connected by an edge in our network model. We then determine the top 30 most important hashtags in the month of May and June through applications of degree, between-ness, and closeness centrality. We also generated highly connected subgraphs (HCS) to categorize clusters of conversations within each of our models. Finally, we tally the websites referenced by these tweets during each month and categorized these websites according to the HCS subgroups. Results: Migraine advocacy related tweets are more popular in June when compared to May as judged by degree and closeness centrality measurements. They remained unchanged when judged by between-ness centralities. The HCS algorithm categorizes the hashtags into a large single dominant conversation in both months. In each of the months, advocacy related hashtags are apart of each of the dominant conversation. There are more hashtag topics as well as more unique websites referenced in the dominant conversation in June than in May. In addition, there are many smaller subgroups of migraine-related hashtags, and in each of these subgroups, there are a maximum of two websites referenced. Conclusion: We find a network analysis approach to be fruitful in the area of migraine social media research. Migraine advocacy tweets on Twitter not only rise in popularity during migraine awareness month but also may potentially bring in more diverse sources of online references into the Twitter migraine conversation. The smaller subgroups we identified suggest that there are marginalized conversations referencing a limited number of websites, creating a possibility of an “echo chamber” phenomenon. These subgroups provide an opportunity for targeted migraine advocacy. Our study therefore highlights the success as well as potential opportunities for social media advocacy on Twitter.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M Dahlgren ◽  
Adam Shehata ◽  
Jesper Strömbäck

The growth of partisan news sources has raised concerns that people will increasingly select attitude-consistent information, which might lead to increasing political polarization. Thus far, there is limited research on the long-term mutual influences between selective exposure and political attitudes. To remedy this, this study investigates the reciprocal influences between selective exposure and political attitudes over several years, using a three-wave panel survey conducted in Sweden during 2014–2016. More specifically, we analyse how ideological selective exposure to both traditional and online news media influences citizens’ ideological leaning. Findings suggest that (1) people seek-out ideologically consistent print news and online news and (2) such attitude-consistent news exposure reinforces citizens’ ideological leaning over time. In practice, however, such reinforcement effects are hampered by (3) relatively low overall ideological selective exposure and a (4) significant degree of cross-cutting news exposure online. These findings are discussed in light of selective exposure theory and the reinforcing spirals model.


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