The document summarizes research on how social networks are used for news consumption and public debate. Focus groups found that audiences regularly access news through social networks but consider mainstream media the main news source. Audiences are motivated to share news and discuss issues with friends, but social networks are seen as limited for constructive debate due to lack of courtesy and polarization of opinions. The researchers suggest exploring differences between expressing opinions and debating, and where alternative news items originate.

1. News redissemination and
public debate on social networks
Lluïsa Llamero, Jaume Suau, Pere Masip,
Carles Ruiz, (Universitat Ramon Llull)
Leicester
28/07/2016

2. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• Project and scope
• Theoretical debate
• Objectives and methodology
• Findings
• Conclusion
• Suggestions for new research lines
Summary

3. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• A holistic account on audiences
• From the perspective of the journalists to the one of
citizens
• Motivations, practices and expectations
• The role of audience participation in journalism and
democracy
Funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, (CSO2012-39518-C04-01)
The Research Project
Active audiences and journalism: Engaged
citizens or motivated consumers?

4. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• Social networks as an expanded public sphere (Papacharissi, 2010,
2015; Singer et al 2011) in a hybrid media system (Chadwick, 2013).
• Put in jeopardy the hegemony of journalists as gatekeepers.
• Research trends:
– Facebook for entertaintment, keeping in touch with friends
– Twitter for hard news, perceptions of elitism
• User’s motivations for sharing and debating online are
insufficientlyaddressed.
Theoretical debate

5. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
Previous survey
Most popular activities on social networks

6. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
Previous survey
Source of the news received through social networks

7. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• To achieve a greater understanding of the role played by social networks in the
consumption of news
• To inquiry about citizen’s motivations for interacting with
news in social networks
• To find out whether citizens regard social networks as suitable spaces for
public debate
Objectives

8. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
Methodology
● 12 focus groups, 106 participants
● Sample (theoretically oriented)
○ Civic Engagement
•43 people were members of political
parties, unions, NGOs, cultural
associations and other social movements
•63 people were not involved in any
association

9. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
– Media Engagement
High media engagement
37 people who:
● read the news every day
● both print and/or online
● use more than one media outlet (at least once a week)
● once a week read a print newspaper
Medium media engagement
46 people who:
● usually read the news but less than six times a week
● both print and/or online
Low media engagement
23 people who:
● read the news online once a week (irrespective of how
often they read the news in the printed media)

10. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
news consumption
• content about public affairs is received in the
audiences’ social-networks feed on a regular basis
(several times a day)
• most of the content is links to news produced by media
or by journalists
• mainstream media are perceived as biased, but they are
still the main source of news:
– “I read La Vanguardia, because it’s like a habit”
(BA43)
Findings

11. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
“I follow the media via Twitter and Facebook, but my
friends also tweet and send me stories. Both help me to
keep informed.”(AM21)
“I’m in Facebook and I follow [media] profiles, and [the
media] update the news, but my contacts also post news
they are interested in and maybe they are of a different
opinion than yours. Sometimes are silly stuff.” (JC22)

12. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• Participants expressed greater confidence about the content
found in social networks if the content had been previously
published by media. Non-journalists sources are seen as not
trustable:
– “… in any case news are signed, but in social networks
nobodys signs the content” (TJ56)
– “... when I see a story [in Facebook] not signed I don’t
trust it (TJ56)
Findings

13. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• social networks allow people to access news outside their
usual subjects of interest or that would otherwise go
unnoticed (thanks to secondary gatekeepers / friends)
• to read topics different from the mainstream media agenda:
– “You have a lot of people on Facebook (...) The good
thing about it is that, when you see a piece of news,
other items are displayed and you end up turning your
attention to a lot more things.” (LS24)
Findings

14. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
Motivations
• to discuss and debate with people who challenge users’
ideologies:
–“I have a friend who isn’t that different to me, but
who often sends me stories that go against my ideas.
Sometimes I counterattack and send him others
back.” (AC20)
Findings

15. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• but some informants reported a fear of social isolation:
“...by being honest you lose friends, so you’re
politically correct depending on the comment (...) if
we are going to talk about politics, everyone will give
their own view, what they feel, their ideology, and
that’s not going to change, it’d be like changing
religion”. (CF47)
Findings

16. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
other motivations:
• the need to share and to keep contact with friends
• the belief that some stories deserve to be
disseminated
• searching for friend’s views on topics of (self-
)interest
• practising an ideological proselytism
• expressing protest, indignation...
Findings

17. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
public debate:
• social networks foster better public debate than
legacy media
• they allow users to express themselves
– “on Twitter you can tweet, make comments. It’s not a
debate, just you’re expressing your position. They aren’t
debates, in the sense of a conversation where points of
view are exchanged, rather, you comment on a piece of
news or you retweet, whereas to start a debate, an
exchange of ideas, I’m more inclined to do it in person
with whoever I want to, and not with a stranger”. (XB23)
Findings

18. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• but they are not the ideal spaces due to:
– lack of courtesy and good manners
– a spiral of silence, audiences do not confront with
their friends
– issues about politics or ideology causes a polarization
of opinions and the discussion do not arrive to a
consensus
Findings

19. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• “I think that people have to learn to debate. Almost always
it’s as if two people quarrel, one saying to the other that he is
an idiot and the other saying…” (CCM29)
• “I participate provided people are polite; when they loose
politeness and they start to insult themselves… I’m not
interested and I leave the debate.” (JC49)
• “I don’t comment because I don’t like to get into fights and
when you write some idea against what people think, then
everybody attacks you. It is not worthy.” (LS24)

20. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
• audiences use social networks for accessing news
and redisseminating those of their own interest
• audiences report social networks to be spaces suitable
for expressing themselves, but limited spaces
for a constructive debate
• people do not interact with media outlet’s profiles
on social media
Conclusions

21. News redissemination and public debate on social networks
Ideas for a new research agenda
• to explore the differences between
expressing opinions and debating
• to inquiry about group dynamics on
discussing about public affairs
• to explore where alternative news items
come from

22. Thanks !
Lluïsa Llamero (marialuisall1@blanquerna.url.edu)
Jaume Suau (jaumesm@blanquerna.url.edu)
Pere Masip (peremm@blanquerna.url.edu)
Carles Ruiz (carlesrc@blanquerna.url.edu)
Leicester
28/07/2016