1. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION ‘Sharing’ the news on Facebook Exploring the differences between news-sharers and non-sharers on the social media site Amber Hinsley Assistant Professor Samantha Johnson Master’s Student

2. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION Research focus  Why do some news consumers choose to share news materials through their social media accounts while others do not?  How are people’s news-sharing decisions tied to their desire to feel connected with others?

3. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION Facebook & sharing news  Facebook has 1 billion active users  People are spending more time with news than ever before – Pew “State of the News Media”  Half of social media users who also are online news consumers get daily news items from the people they follow  One-fourth follow news organizations or journalists on social networking sites – Pew “Participatory news consumers”

4. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION Motivations for sharing news  Uses & gratifications  Escape/diversion  Relationship maintenance  Personal identity  Surveillance

5. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION Research questions  RQ1: What news preference-related differences exist between people who share news links via Facebook and those who do not?  RQ2: What demographic-type differences exist between people who share links stories via Facebook and those who do not?  RQ3: What motivates people to share news links via Facebook?

6. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION Online survey  250 U.S. adults who follow at least one news organization on Facebook  57% female  78% had at least some college  Ages 18-74  Mean: 34.8 years old  72% Caucasian  Demographics similar to those in Pew studies of social media users

7. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ1: News-preference differences General Facebook news use Sharers MNon-Sharers MMean difference How often do you sign in to Facebook specifically intending to find out what’s happening in the news? 4.883.621.26*** Total number of Facebook friends319.05183.2135.85** Sharers n=183; Non-Sharers n=65 ***p<.001; **p<.01 Responses for first item based on 7-point scale in which 1 was never and 7 was extremely often Reliance on Facebook for news Sharers MNon- Sharers M Mean difference I can be well-informed by following news organizations on Facebook even if I don’t seek out news in more traditional formats (such as newspapers or television news shows) 5.084.17.91*** I can rely on my Facebook friends to tell me what’s important when news happens 4.854.11.75** I don’t worry about keeping up with the news in more traditional formats because I know news will find me on Facebook 4.193.061.12*** Sharers n=183; Non-Sharers n=65 ***p<.001; **p<.01; *p<.05

8. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ1: News- preference differences Most-valued news org on FB Sharers %Non-Sharers % Local television news station31.723.1 National television network news18.016.9 Cable television network news15.316.9 Local news radio station6.66.2 Local newspaper4.96.2 National newspaper4.94.6 “Fake” cable news program4.99.2 Online-only news organization4.43.1 Cable television news program2.71.5 National television news program2.24.6 National news radio station2.24.6 National news magazine1.10 Local news magazine1.13.1 Sharers n=183; Non-Sharers n=65

9. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ1: News-preference differences What do you like about what your most-valued news organization does on Facebook? Sharers MNon-Sharers M Mean difference Post headlines throughout the day 5.625.16.46* Post links to specific types of news5.555.00.55** Respond to comments/questions posted by the public5.344.331.01*** Promote contests or discounts sponsored by the news organization5.214.38.83*** Post behind-the-scenes information about the news organization5.114.49.62** Post photos and other content from the public 5.104.50.60** Post non-news materials that show the news organization’s personality 5.054.35.70** Solicit comments to questions posed in posts 5.044.32.72** Promote news organization materials like its apps & blogs 4.944.08.86*** Solicit photos & other content from the public 4.764.29.47 Promote businesses through sponsored advertisements 4.614.03.58* ***p<.001; **p<.01; *p<.05 Responses based on 7-point scale in which 1 was strongly dislike and 7 was strongly like

10. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ1: News-preference differences How often do you interact with your most-valued news organization on Facebook by… Sharers MNon-Sharers MMean difference Read/watch/listen to news materials after clicking on link5.134.14.99*** Read headlines from posts but don’t click on link 4.874.09.78** Comment on other people’s comments on the news organization’s Facebook page 4.112.601.51*** Comment on news material posted by the organization 4.012.621.40*** Comment on questions posed by the news organization 3.972.721.25*** Post information, comments or questions on the news organization’s Facebook page 3.842.571.27*** Post a video/photo on the news organization’s Facebook page 3.262.231.03*** Sharers n=183; Non-Sharers n=65 Responses based on 7-point scale in which 1 was never and 7 was extremely often ***p<.001; **p<.01; *p<.05

11. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ2: Demographic differences  News-sharers: Younger than their non-news sharing counterparts  Non-sharers: More conservative and more likely to be minorities than news-sharers

12. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ3: Motivations for sharing news When I share news links, I feel I…Maintaining Relationships Helping Others & Self Interact with people who I trust to help solve my problems.885.196 Interact with people I trust to turn to in an emergency.875.213 Interact with people who I can turn to for advice about making important decisions.788.335 Interact with people who are usually nothing more than acquaintances (reversed).782.213 Connect with new people.767.337 Maintain real-world relationships with my Facebook friends.735.483 Maintain credibility with my Facebook friends.730.450 Do not know people well enough to get them to do anything important (reversed).717.227 Helpful to my Facebook friends.213.828 Reflect my own views.109.827 Influence my Facebook friends.356.738 News organizations I follow are held in high esteem by my community.380.737 Eigenvalues13.151.48 % Variance62.62%7.05% Extraction method: Principal axis factoring. Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser normalization N=183Cronbach’s α=.93

13. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION RQ3: Motivations for sharing news When I share news links, I feel I…Maintaining Relationship s Helping Others & Self Maintain online relationships with my Facebook friends.698.507 Makes me interested in things happening in my community.658.449 Start conversations with friends in the real world.632.474 Find out what people not like me are thinking.631.499 Feel more connected to friend when re-post their news link.630.567 Diversion from everyday life.626.564 Share news on subjects that interest my Facebook friends.547.506 Makes me feel part of a larger community.620.624 Help my Facebook friends learn more about me.518.609 Eigenvalues13.151.48 % Variance62.62%7.05% Extraction method: Principal axis factoring. Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser normalization N=183Cronbach’s α=.93

14. S AINT L OUIS U NIVERSITY  D EPARTMENT OF C OMMUNICATION Take-aways  News-sharers & non-sharers have distinct news preferences  News-sharers & non-sharers are demographically different  News-sharers have to two primary motivations  Maintaining relationships  Helping self & others