Social Media News Use and Political Cynicism: Differential Pathways Through “News Finds Me” Perception

Hyunjin Song; Homero Gil de Zuniga; Hajo Boomgaarden

doi:10.1080/15205436.2019.1651867

Social Media News Use and Political Cynicism: Differential Pathways Through “News Finds Me” Perception

Hyunjin Song, Homero Gil de Zuniga, Hajo Boomgaarden

Department of Communication

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

As citizens inadvertently "encounter" news and political information through digital media and social networking sites, they might perceive themselves to be well informed about politics without actively seeking political information, which has been labeled as the "News Finds Me" (NFM) perception. We attempt to explicate and further advance the conceptualization and corresponding measurement of "News Finds Me" perception. Using a nationally representative survey conducted in Austria, our analysis shows that social media news use may contribute to cynicism towards politics, and that such a relationship is critically mediated through NFM perceptions, but to a differential degree depending on specific sub-dimensions of NFM perceptions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	47-70
Number of pages	24
Journal	Mass Communication and Society
Volume	23
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2019.1651867
Publication status	Published - 2 Jan 2020

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

508012 Media impact studies

Keywords

ATTENTION
COMMUNICATION
CONFIDENCE
ENTERTAINMENT
EXPOSURE
FRAMES
INFORMATION
INTERNET
PATTERNS
TRUST

Access to Document

10.1080/15205436.2019.1651867Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

http://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1061735Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cite this

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KW - ATTENTION

KW - COMMUNICATION

KW - CONFIDENCE

KW - ENTERTAINMENT

KW - EXPOSURE

KW - FRAMES

KW - INFORMATION

KW - INTERNET

KW - PATTERNS

KW - TRUST

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Social Media News Use and Political Cynicism: Differential Pathways Through “News Finds Me” Perception

Abstract

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

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