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This study of 409 sports fans from the United States and China contrasts uses sought and gratifications obtained within four different social media platforms: Facebook and Twitter (in the United States) and WeChat and Weibo (in China). Results indicated that each of the platforms function in starkly contrasting manners. In the United States, Facebook scored higher than Twitter on every motivational measure; in China, WeChat was found to be better at fostering camaraderie, entertainment, habitual use, and maintaining relationships, while Weibo was found to be better for arousal. Moreover, Chinese respondents reported higher gratifications obtained than American respondent on all 12 factors. Implications are offered for uses and gratifications research as well as sports media scholarship.

Reciprocal journalism is a daily practice for American journalists. Previous studies show it benefits journalists, newsrooms, and audiences (e.g. Coddington, Lewis & Holton, 2018). Conversely, journalists also experience harassment when interacting with audiences online, causing them to view audiences less favorably (Lewis, Zamith, & Coddington, 2020). Through in-depth interviews with 24 professional and former journalists, this study finds journalists experience cognitive dissonance after experiencing harassment during reciprocal journalism, but they are not likely to stop the practice due to organizational and individual benefits perceived as greater than the negatives. The study finds journalists feel personally responsible for resolving dissonance and often use unhealthy resolution techniques like normalization, victim blaming, or perspective-taking to deal with online abuse. The end result could mean dangerous consequences for individuals and the industry long-term. Results suggest a cultural shift in the industry would be necessary to significantly ease dissonant cognitions among individual journalists.

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