When rites go wrong: the impact of failed rituals of news sharing

ABSTRACT When people share news stories on social media, they appeal to transcendent values: showing care, creating a community, seeking certainty, or demonstrating competence. This places news sharing in the realm of ritual actions. This is not always successful, however. This paper argues that failure of these rituals indicates their importance and shows how news-sharing rituals adapt to maintain their relevance in an environment dominated by the smartphone and influenced the fear of misinformation. Twelve focus groups discussed news sharing and the discussions suggested first what kind of transcendent ritual values are important when sharing news; second, what happens when the ritual fails; and third how the ritual adapts in the face of failure to maintain appeals to transcendent values. It offers evidence to challenge the myth of the media centre, and to question the role of the individual taking personal responsibility for the adaptation of ritual behaviour that contributes to the cohesion and survival of communities.