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Online news on Twitter: Newspapers’ social media adoption and their online readership

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  • Hong, Sounman

Abstract

Many news organizations have recognized the potential of social media as a journalistic tool and have used social media marketing to attract online audiences. The aim of this study is to understand the implications of news organizations’ adoption of social media sites through (1) an examination of the relationship between news organizations’ adoption of social media and their online readership and (2) a comparison of online traffic generated by social media sites with that generated by other online media institutions. Evidence suggests that newspapers’ adoption of social media is positively associated with an increase in their online readership, and this association increases in the size of the newspapers’ social media networks (e.g., number of Twitter followers). Evidence also suggests that the association between newspapers’ social media adoption and their online traffic may differ compared to the association between other online media institutions and the online traffic they generated. A descriptive analysis shows that the online traffic generated by social media sites is less concentrated than that generated by search engines or news aggregators; this can be explained by the fact that social media sites might be less susceptible to information cascades, compared to search engines or news aggregators.

Suggested Citation

  • Hong, Sounman, 2012. "Online news on Twitter: Newspapers’ social media adoption and their online readership," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 69-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:24:y:2012:i:1:p:69-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2012.01.004
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    7. Jozé Braz de Araújo & Silvia Novaes Zilber, 2016. "What Factors Lead Companies to Adopt Social Media in their processes: Proposal and Test of a Measurement Model," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 13(6), pages 260-290, November.
    8. Marco Toledo Bastos & Gabriela Zago, 2013. "Tweeting News Articles," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440135, September.
    9. Levi Pérez, 2013. "What drives the number of new Twitter followers? An economic note and a case study of professional soccer teams," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(3), pages 1941-1947.
    10. George, Lisa M., 2016. "Mobile, Media & More: Contributions and Developments at Information Economics and Policy," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-2.
    11. Blasco-Arcas, Lorena & Lee, Hsin-Hsuan Meg & Kastanakis, Minas N. & Alcañiz, Mariano & Reyes-Menendez, Ana, 2022. "The role of consumer data in marketing: A research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 436-452.
    12. Ammar Ikhwan Yahaya & Anuar Nawawi & Ahmad Saiful Azlin Puteh Salin, 2017. "The Influence of Advertisement on Media Users: Empirical Evidence from Three Generational Differences in Malaysia," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 7(5), pages 258-275, May.
    13. Garz, Marcel & Szucs, Ferenc, 2023. "Algorithmic selection and supply of political news on Facebook," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. Irina Iosub & Adelina Ivanov & Dan Smedescu, 2016. "Characteristics and Development of Social Media as a Marketing Communications Tool," Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 339-345, September.
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    16. Ho, Benjamin & Liu, Peng, 2015. "Herd journalism: Investment in novelty and popularity in markets for news," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 33-46.
    17. Grover, Purva & Kar, Arpan Kumar, 2020. "User engagement for mobile payment service providers – introducing the social media engagement model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Bisceglia, Michele, 2023. "The unbundling of journalism," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social media; Twitter; Facebook; Online news; Digital media; Information cascades; Information economics; Media economics; Online media institution; Aggregator; Search engine;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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