News on Events and Social Media

A Comparative Analysis of Facebook Users’ Reactions

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7499092
AutoresSherri Salgado (0000-0002-7967-3763, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal, autor correspondente), Giuliano Bobba (0000-0001-9724-5650, Department of Culture Politics and Society, University of Turin, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Torino, Italy)
Ano2019
Volume20
Fascículo15
Páginas2258-2276
Data de publicação2019-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournalism Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1461-670X • E-ISSN: 1469-9699
EditoraRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1461670x.2019.1586566
OpenAlexW2918903161
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas25
Referências citadas63

Aiming to shed light on why Facebook users react to certain events and news stories more than to others, this study analyses their reactions to different events and to the media coverage of those events. The case selection includes six events covered by two newspapers from four countries: France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The research design combines an original content analysis of news media outlets’ posts with an analysis of the reactions that these posts have generated from Facebook users—likes, shares and comments—to assess whether and how the nature of events and the characteristics of the news content contribute to explaining the engagement of Facebook users with the news. The data analysis indicated that the decisions to like, share or comment were not driven by the same factors. Unexpected events showed significance, at different levels, for all kinds of reactions to news. Conversely, the specific features of news content only slightly affected the levels of liking and sharing. Facebook users were more likely to comment on news adhering to known criteria for news values, such as negativity or personalization

Advertising · Business · Content analysis · Internet privacy · Negativity effect · News media · News values · Newspaper · Personalization · Selection (genetic algorithm · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology