Are partisan, unreliable, digital-born, and mass-oriented media more likely to thrive on social media? Comparing four information ecosystems

IF 5.5 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Journal of Communication Pub Date : 2025-09-03 DOI:10.1093/joc/jqaf035

Tian Yang, Xuzhen Yang, Yilang Peng, Subhayan Mukerjee

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Social media platforms form information ecosystems distinct from the Web and reconfigure power relationships, especially the distribution of visibilities, among news media. We developed a theoretical framework based on structuration theory to explain the differences between the Web and social media, and investigated four prominent factors: institutional legacy, information reliability, ideological differences, and news inequalities. This study collected social media data from three platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube; N = 8.4 million posts), web traffic data, and an information reliability index for 766 media outlets in the USA. We investigated how four factors explained differences between the platforms and the Web: media outlets that were digital-born (compared to newspapers), partisan, and mass-oriented gained greater visibilities on platforms relative to their web traffic. Meanwhile, the three platforms displayed differences. For example, only Twitter showed significantly increased visibilities of unreliable sources. Our multiplatform research design demonstrates the impact of platformization on journalism.

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党派化的、不可靠的、数字化的、面向大众的媒体更有可能在社交媒体上茁壮成长吗？四种信息生态系统的比较

社交媒体平台形成了不同于网络的信息生态系统，并重新配置了新闻媒体之间的权力关系，尤其是知名度的分布。我们建立了一个基于结构理论的理论框架来解释网络和社交媒体之间的差异，并研究了四个突出的因素：制度遗产、信息可靠性、意识形态差异和新闻不平等。本研究收集了美国766家媒体的三个平台（Facebook、Twitter和YouTube； N = 840万个帖子）的社交媒体数据、网络流量数据和信息可靠性指数。我们调查了四个因素如何解释平台和网络之间的差异：数字媒体（与报纸相比），党派和大众导向的媒体相对于其网络流量在平台上获得了更高的知名度。同时，三个平台也表现出了差异。例如，只有Twitter显示不可靠来源的可见性显著增加。我们的多平台研究设计展示了平台化对新闻业的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Communication COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

11.60

自引率

5.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Communication, the flagship journal of the International Communication Association, is a vital publication for communication specialists and policymakers alike. Focusing on communication research, practice, policy, and theory, it delivers the latest and most significant findings in communication studies. The journal also includes an extensive book review section and symposia of selected studies on current issues. JoC publishes top-quality scholarship on all aspects of communication, with a particular interest in research that transcends disciplinary and sub-field boundaries.