Volume index - Journal index - Article index - Map ---- Back

Comunicar Journal 67: Cyber convivencia as a social scenario: Ethics and emotions (Vol. 29 - 2021)

Motivation and perception of Hong Kong university students about social media news

https://doi.org/10.3916/C67-2021-03

Qiuyi Kong

Kelly-Yee Lai-Ku

Liping Deng

Apple-Chung Yan-Au

Abstract

With the prevalence of social media in a digital age, accessing news on social media has become a daily routine of university students’ lives. However, little research has been done to examine their social media news use in detail, especially in Asian countries. To fill this gap, we aimed to examine what motivated university students to seek news on social media, to what extent they perceived they were in control of the influences of news, and whether news motives were related to their levels of news media literacy across three domains: (a) authors and audiences; (b) messages and meaning, and (c) representation and reality. One hundred and forty-seven university students from a university in Hong Kong participated. Among the four news motives, socializing was the most powerful predictor for news use on social media. Most students believed they were in control of news influences and demonstrated a high level of news media literacy, and those who believed themselves to be in control of news influences showed a higher level of news media literacy. In this sense, high news-literate students were more likely to seek news for socializing as compared to their low news-literate counterparts. Insights on educating students to use social media in a positive and smart way were discussed.

Keywords

Social networking sites, news, digital consumption, media use, media literacy, university

PDF file in Spanish

PDF file in English

References

Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social Media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), 211-236. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.31.2.211

Ashley, S., Maksl, A., & Craft, S. (2013). Developing a news media literacy scale. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 68(1), 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077695812469802

Brandtzaeg, P.B., Følstad, A., & Chaparro-Domínguez, M.A. (2018). How journalists and social media users perceive online fact-checking and verification services. Journalism practice, 12(9), 1109-1129. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2017.1363657

Casero-Ripollés, A. (2012). Beyond newspapers: News consumption among young people in the digital era. [Más allá de los diarios: El consumo de noticias de los jóvenes en la era digital]. Comunicar, 20, 151-158. https://doi.org/10.3916/C39-2012-03-05

Choi, J. (2016). Why do people use news differently on SNSs? An investigation of the role of motivations, media repertoires, and technology cluster on citizens' news-related activities. Computers in Human Behaviour, 54, 249-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.006

Choi, J., & Lee, J.K. (2015). Investigating the effects of news sharing and political interest on social media network heterogeneity. Computers in Human Behaviour, 44, 258-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.029

David, C.C. (2009). Learning political information from the news: A closer look at the role of motivation. Journal of Communication, 59(2), 243-261. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01414.x

Diddi, A., & LaRose, R. (2006). Getting hooked on news: Uses and gratifications and the formation of news habits among college students in an internet environment. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50(2), 193-210. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15506878jobem5002_2

Dunne, A., Lawlor, M.A., & Rowley, J. (2010). Young people's use of online social networking sites–a uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Research in interactive Marketing, 4(1), 46-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/17505931011033551

Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x

Eveland, W.P. (2002). News information processing as mediator of the relationship between motivations and political knowledge. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 79(1), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900207900103

Eveland, W.P. (2004). The effect of political discussion in producing informed citizens: The roles of information, motivation, and elaboration. Political Communication, 21(2), 177-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600490443877

Fleming, J., & Kajimoto, M. (2016). The freedom of critical thinking: Examining efforts to teach American news literacy principles in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In M. Yildiz, & J. Keengwe (Eds.), Handbook of research on media literacy in the digital world (pp. 208-235). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8359-2.ch020

Gao, W., Liu, Z., & Li, J. (2017). How does social presence influence SNS addiction? A belongingness theory perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 347-355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.09.002

Hobbs, R. (2010). Digital and media literacy: A plan of action. Aspen Institute. https://bit.ly/31u26Q8

Hornik, R., & Kajimoto, M. (2014). ‘De-Americanizing’ news literacy: Using local media examples to teach critical thinking to students in different socio-cultural environments. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 24(2), 175-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365x14555280

Howard, Y.H., & Corkindale, D. (2008). Towards an understanding of the behavioral intention to use online news services. Internet Research, 18(3), 286-312. https://doi.org/10.1108/10662240810883326

K?rcaburun, K., & Griffiths, M.D. (2019). Problematic Instagram use: The role of perceived feeling of presence and escapism. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17, 909-921. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9895-7

Kajimoto, M. (2016). Developing news literacy curricula in the age of social media in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Myanmar. Journalism Education, 5(1), 136-155. https://bit.ly/3ie0hN8

Katz, E., Blumler, J.G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research. Sage publications.

Ku, K.Y., Kong, Q., Song, Y., Deng, L., Kang, Y., & Hu, A. (2019). What predicts adolescents’ critical thinking about real-life news? The roles of social media news consumption and news media literacy. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 33, 100570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2019.05.004

Lee, C.S., & Ma, L. (2012). News sharing in social media: The effect of gratifications and prior experience. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), 331-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.10.002

Lee, C.S., Goh, D.H., Chua, A.Y.K., & Ang, R.P. (2010). Indagator: Investigating perceived gratifications of an application that blends mobile content sharing with gameplay. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(6), 1244-1257. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21305

Lee, C.S., Ma, L., & Goh, D.H.L. (2011). Why do people share news in social media? In International Conference on Active Media Technology (pp. 129-140). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23620-4_17

Lin, C.A. (2002). Perceived gratifications of online media service use among potential users. Telematics and Informatics, 19(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0736-5853(01)00014-4

Luo, X. (2002). Uses and gratifications theory and e-consumer behaviors: A structural equation modeling study. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 2(2), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2002.10722060

Maksl, A., Ashley, S., & Craft, S. (2015). Measuring news media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 6(3), 29-45. https://bit.ly/3ihRw4D

Maksl, A., Craft, S., Ashley, S., & Miller, D. (2017). The usefulness of a news media literacy measure in evaluating a news literacy curriculum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 72(2), 228-241. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077695816651970

Malik, M.M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U. (2013). The challenges of defining 'news literacy'. Berkman Center Research Publication. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2342313

Martinez-Costa, M.P., Serrano-Puche, J., Portilla, I., & Sánchez-Blanco, C. (2019). Young adults' interaction with online news and advertising. [La interacción de los jóvenes adultos con las noticias y la publicidad online]. Comunicar, 59, 19-28. https://doi.org/10.3916/C59-2019-02

Mihailidis, P. (2011). New civic voices & the emerging media literacy landscape. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 3(1), 3. https://bit.ly/2ZnQxay

Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A., & Nielsen, R.K. (2019). Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://bit.ly/31zq7VU

Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A., Levy, D., & Nielsen, R.K. (2018). Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://bit.ly/3mFBpja

Papacharissi, Z., & Rubin, A.M. (2000). Predictors of Internet use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44(2), 175-196. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15506878jobem4402_2

Park, N., Kee, K.F., & Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(6), 729-733. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2009.0003

Pennycook, G., Cannon, T.D., & Rand, D.G. (2018). Prior exposure increases perceived accuracy of fake news. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(12), 1865-1880. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000465

Potter, W.J. (2004). Theory of media literacy: A cognitive approach. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483328881

Potter, W.J. (2010). The state of media literacy. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 54, 675-696. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2011.521462

Rubin, A.M. (2009). Uses-and-gratifications perspective of media effects. In J. Bryant, & M.B. Oliver (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 165-184). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203877111-14

Rubin, A.M., & Perse, E.M. (1987). Audience activity and television news gratifications. Communication Research, 14(1), 58-84. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365087014001004

Ruggiero, T.E. (2000). Uses and gratifications theory in the 21st century. Mass Communication and Society, 3(1), 3-37. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327825mcs0301_02

Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020

Scale, P.C. (2010). Characteristics of young adolescents. In National Middle School Association (Eds.), This we believe: Keys to educating young adolescents (pp. 53-62). National Middle School Association.

Shao, C., Ciampaglia, G.L., Varol, O., Yang, K.C., Flammini, A., & Menczer, F. (2018). The spread of low-credibility content by social bots. Nature communications, 9(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06930-7

Silverblatt, A., Ayudhya, Y.S.N., & Jenkins, K. (2014). International media and informational literacy. In B.S. De-Abreu, & P. Mihailidis (Eds.), Media literacy education in action: Theoretical and pedagogical perspectives (pp. 219-224). Routledge. https://bit.ly/3gbP7Xq

Soep, E. (2012). The digital afterlife of youth-made media: Implications for media literacy education. [Generación y recreación de contenidos digitales por los jóvenes: implicaciones para la alfabetización mediática]. Comunicar, 38, 93-100. https://doi.org/10.3916/C38-2012-02-10

Thurman, N., & Schifferes, S. (2012). The future of personalization at news websites: Lessons from a longitudinal study. Journalism Studies, 13(5-6), 775-790. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2012.664341