Social Navigation on the Internet: A Framework for the Analysis of Communication Processes

Abstract

The term “social navigation” (SN) refers to media use patterns that are driven by the previous media activities of others. This phenomenon is widely encountered in social media environments, which allow users to easily leave and receive information. However, investigating the variety of SN actions, such as rating, forwarding, and even producing media items oneself, increases the prevalent challenges of empirical research on web content. The article reflects on these challenges and offers possible solutions via the example of a pilot study concerning online news based on a multi-method design with a particular emphasis on online content analysis. Special attention is devoted to the dynamics of online media and online news in particular, data reactivity during research, algorithmic content production, and the impact of relationship-related information.

KEYWORDS:

• algorithms
• multi-method design
• online content analysis
• social media applications
• social navigation

Acknowledgments

This article is based on a study conducted at the University of Erfurt, co-authored by Leonie Crayen, Katharina Füser, Anke Grünhaupt, Theresa Hofmann, Anne Müller, and Sebastian Zeitler. The research was supported by a grant of the Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt (TLM), Germany.

Notes

Even though it clearly belongs to the phenomenon of social navigation, we explicitly do not address and investigate socially navigated content that is subject only to interpersonal communication (timeline posts on Facebook, personal messages on social media sites, etc.) as it is not publicly accessible.

This article is not a mere methodological paper on the theory and application of a certain method in a particular area of study, nor is it a research report on a special subject. To give the reader a vivid understanding of the various implications when analyzing social media, we both address general methodological issues and provide ways to tackle those issues at hand. Here and throughout the article the interested reader is referred to the comprehensive report on the study this article is based on. See Hautzer, Lünich, and Rössler (2012) for a depiction of all relevant empirical steps and results and an extensive discussion of both.

Note that the survey was aimed at investigating SN behavior in general and was therefore not only focused on online news.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marco Lünich

Marco Lünich has a BA in communication studies with a minor in law from the University of Erfurt, Germany. He is now studying in the Research Master Programme at the Graduate School of Communication in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research interests include media effects, political communication, and empirical research methods.

Patrick Rössler

Patrick Rössler, Dr. rer. soc., is Chair for Communication Studies (Empirical Research/Methods) at the Faculty of Philosophy and currently Vice-President for Research at the University of Erfurt. He graduated in communication studies, political science, and law at the University of Mainz, worked as research assistant at the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, and started as an assistant professor at the University of Munich. His research interests focus on media effects, political communication, new media technologies and the history of visual communication.

Lena Hautzer

Lena Hautzer completed her BA in communication studies and economics at the University of Erfurt, Germany in 2011; she is currently studying media management as an MA at the HMTM in Hannover, Germany. Her research interests include online media, media effects, and empirical research methods.