Sharing and Discussing News in Private Social Media Groups

Abstract

Social media platforms are an increasingly dominant medium through which people encounter news in everyday life. Yet while we know more-and-more about frequency of use and sharing, content preferences and network configurations around news use on social media, the social experiences associated with such practices remain relatively unexplored. This paper addresses this gap to consider if and how news facilitates conversations in everyday contexts where social media play a communicative role. It investigates how people engage with current affairs collectively in different social formations and their associated following, sharing and discussion practices. Specifically, it studies the role of news in six focus groups consisting of people who know each other offline and simultaneously communicate regularly through private Facebook or WhatsApp groups, and who interact primarily in relation to their membership in a particular (1) location-based (2) work-related or (3) leisure-oriented community. It finds that communication within social media communities whose members consider their ties as weak generally tended to be more news-centred. Even more significant was perceived control over privacy and presence of clear norms and community boundaries, which alongside the communicative aims of the group proved important considerations when it came to deciding whether to share news within the community.

The ecology of incidental exposure to news in digital media environments

“…However, inquiries into how audiences use digital technologies indicate the utility of news extends far beyond a rational calculation related to electoral choice. As social media become integrated into people’s everyday lives, digital news exposure – including incidental exposure – is an increasingly social practice that helps audiences make meaning and sense of their political and social worlds (Boczkowski et al, 2018; Costera Meijer, 2007; Heikkilä and Ahva, 2015 ; Schrøder, 2019; Swart et al, 2019). As digital media environments have expanded the modes of political voice and influence, it is vital to account for the heterogeneity in the utility individuals receive from news content.…”

“…However, many people do not see digital media as a place to become well informed, but rather a social space in which they occasionally encounter news as a by-product of more social uses (Boczkowski et al, 2018). Audience perceptions of platforms as social news spaces matter because they can shape how people collectively engage and make sense of news content (Costera Meijer, 2007; Heikkilä and Ahva, 2015; Schrøder, 2019; Swart et al, 2019). To some, the amount of news on social media is perceived as highly overwhelming, which leads them to adopt strategies to avoid unexpectedly encountering news on the platforms (Pentina and Tarafdar, 2014).…”

“…For example, individuals with high levels of interest in news or politics may be more likely stumble upon or engage with news on social media as part of their news habits (Kim et al, 2013; LaRose, 2010; Prior, 2007). Similarly, audiences who engage news for more social purposes or to make better sense of the world around them may attend more carefully to incidentally encountered news (Schrøder, 2019; Swart et al, 2019). However, it may be that those who consistently lack motivation to seek news benefit the most from incidental exposure on social media.…”

False consensus in the echo chamber: Exposure to favorably biased social media news feeds leads to increased perception of public support for own opinions

“…Another limitation can be seen in the use of news messages as stimuli. These were employed because FCE was measured towards news topics and because news play an import role in social media (Bastos, 2015;Swart et al, 2019). However, interaction in social networks is also made up of personal messages and personal narrations.…”

Fusing location and text features for sentiment classification

“…Non-observable aspects of a geo-social media user have also been studied, with a focus on the user's motivation for using geo-social media, as well as for localized opinion mining and reactions towards an event in the users' locality. In terms of motivation, geo-social media users often participated in a local social network in order to foster social integration and build ties, in the same way as a local newsletter [15]. Aside from community engagement , localized opinion mining can be performed using geo-social media, and have been used to elicit a response for participatory urban planning [16].…”