Advanced search
Publication Cover
Communication Methods and Measures Volume 10, 2016 - Issue 2-3: Measuring Media Exposure in a Changing Communications Environment
Submit an article Journal homepage
4,458
Views
89
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Beyond Self-Reports: Using Eye Tracking to Measure Topic and Style Differences in Attention to Social Media Content

Emily VragaDepartment of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, VirginiaCorrespondence[email protected]
View further author information
,
Leticia BodeDeparment of Communication, Culture and Technology, Georgetown University, Washington, DCView further author information
&
Sonya Troller-RenfreeDepartment of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MarylandView further author information
Pages 149-164 | Published online: 20 Apr 2016

Citations (89)

Keep up to date with the latest research on this topic with citation updates for this article.

Subscribe to citation updates

Read on this site (20)

David Angeles, Sebastian Kurtek, Elizabeth Klein, Marielle Brinkman & Amy Ferketich. (2023) Geometric framework for statistical analysis of eye tracking heat maps, with application to a tobacco waterpipe study. Journal of Applied Statistics 0:0, pages 1-19.
Read now
Ana S. Cardenal, María Victoria-Mas, Silvia Majó-Vázquez & Iván Lacasa-Mas. (2022) Assessing the Validity of Survey Measures for News Exposure through Digital Footprints: Evidence from Spain and the UK. Political Communication 39:5, pages 634-651.
Read now
Arthur D. Santana & Toby Hopp. (2022) Blink and You Miss it: Measuring News Readers’ Attention to Interpretative Journalism Cues. Journalism Practice 16:6, pages 1192-1208.
Read now
Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Michael Bossetta, Nils Holmberg & Diederick Niehorster. (2022) The cueing power of comments on social media: how disagreement in Facebook comments affects user engagement with news. Information, Communication & Society 25:8, pages 1115-1134.
Read now
Jakob Ohme, Ewa Maslowska & Cornelia Mothes. (2022) Mobile News Learning — Investigating Political Knowledge Gains in a Social Media Newsfeed with Mobile Eye Tracking. Political Communication 39:3, pages 339-357.
Read now
R. Glenn Cummins & Dustin Hahn. (2022) Selective Exposure and Exemplification within Sports Highlights. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 66:1, pages 22-46.
Read now
Sojung Claire Kim, Emily K. Vraga & John Cook. (2021) An Eye Tracking Approach to Understanding Misinformation and Correction Strategies on Social Media: The Mediating Role of Attention and Credibility to Reduce HPV Vaccine Misperceptions. Health Communication 36:13, pages 1687-1696.
Read now
Heloisa Sturm Wilkerson, Martin J. Riedl & Kelsey N. Whipple. (2021) Affective Affordances: Exploring Facebook Reactions as Emotional Responses to Hyperpartisan Political News. Digital Journalism 9:8, pages 1040-1061.
Read now
Ewa Maslowska, Jakob Ohme & Claire M. Segijn. (2021) Attention to Social Media Ads: The Role of Consumer Recommendations and Smartphones. Journal of Interactive Advertising 21:3, pages 283-296.
Read now
Lara Schreurs & Laura Vandenbosch. (2021) Introducing the Social Media Literacy (SMILE) model with the case of the positivity bias on social media. Journal of Children and Media 15:3, pages 320-337.
Read now
Julian Unkel. (2021) Measuring Selective Exposure in Mock Website Experiments: A Simple, Free, and Open-source Solution. Communication Methods and Measures 15:1, pages 1-16.
Read now
Elizabeth G. Klein, Kristin Roberts, Jennifer Manganello, Rebecca Mcadams & Lara Mckenzie. (2020) When Social Media Images and Messages Don’t Match: Attention to Text versus Imagery to Effectively Convey Safety Information on Social Media. Journal of Health Communication 25:11, pages 879-884.
Read now
Jakob Ohme & Cornelia Mothes. (2020) What Affects First- and Second-Level Selective Exposure to Journalistic News? A Social Media Online Experiment. Journalism Studies 21:9, pages 1220-1242.
Read now
Sabrina Heike Kessler & Arne Freya Zillich. (2019) Searching Online for Information About Vaccination: Assessing the Influence of User-Specific Cognitive Factors Using Eye-Tracking. Health Communication 34:10, pages 1150-1158.
Read now
Andy J. King, Nadine Bol, R. Glenn Cummins & Kevin K. John. (2019) Improving Visual Behavior Research in Communication Science: An Overview, Review, and Reporting Recommendations for Using Eye-Tracking Methods. Communication Methods and Measures 13:3, pages 149-177.
Read now
Yanna Krupnikov & Kathleen Searles. (2019) New Approaches to Method and Measurement in the Study of Political Communication Effects. Political Communication 36:2, pages 209-213.
Read now
Shira Dvir-Gvirsman. (2019) I like what I see: studying the influence of popularity cues on attention allocation and news selection. Information, Communication & Society 22:2, pages 286-305.
Read now
Leticia Bode & Emily K. Vraga. (2018) See Something, Say Something: Correction of Global Health Misinformation on Social Media. Health Communication 33:9, pages 1131-1140.
Read now
Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode, Anne-Bennett Smithson & Sonya Troller-Renfree. (2016) Blurred lines: Defining social, news, and political posts on Facebook. Journal of Information Technology & Politics 13:3, pages 272-294.
Read now
Claes H. de Vreese & Peter Neijens. (2016) Measuring Media Exposure in a Changing Communications Environment. Communication Methods and Measures 10:2-3, pages 69-80.
Read now

Articles from other publishers (69)

Chris Skurka, Mengqi Liao & Homero Gil de Zúñiga. (2023) Tuning Out (Political and Science) News? A Selective Exposure Study of the News Finds Me Perception. Communication Research.
Crossref
Patrick Ferrucci & Toby Hopp. (2023) Let’s intervene: How platforms can combine media literacy and self-efficacy to fight fake news. Communication and the Public 8:4, pages 367-389.
Crossref
Alison Y. Tang, Jung Kwak, Lu Xiao, Bo Xie, Sucheta Lahiri, Olivia Aiden Flynn & Abinav Murugadass. (2023) Online Health Information Wants of Caregivers for Persons With Dementia in Social Media. SAGE Open 13:4.
Crossref
Hanliang Fu, Hong Zhu, Pengdong Xue, Xi Hu, Xiaotong Guo & Bingsheng Liu. (2022) Eye-tracking study of public acceptance of 5G base stations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 30:8, pages 3416-3437.
Crossref
Insook Han, Iyad Obeid & Devon Greco. (2023) Multimodal Learning Analytics and Neurofeedback for Optimizing Online Learners’ Self-Regulation. Technology, Knowledge and Learning.
Crossref
JungWon Yoon & Sue Yeon Syn. (2022) The effects of visual formats on Facebook health-related posts: evidence from eye movement analysis. Library Hi Tech 41:3, pages 833-852.
Crossref
Miriam Brinberg, Nilam Ram, Jinping Wang, S. Shyam Sundar, James J. Cummings, Leo Yeykelis & Byron Reeves. (2022) Screenertia: Understanding “Stickiness” of Media Through Temporal Changes in Screen Use. Communication Research 50:5, pages 535-560.
Crossref
MeiJuan Guo, MahnWoo Kwon, MiKyung Hwang & YiMou Zhou. (2023) Eye Perception and Preference Difference between Different Emotional Content on TikTok and Twitter Platforms. Journal of Multimedia Information System 10:2, pages 153-162.
Crossref
Sue Yeon Syn. (2023) Gaze movement analysis examined how people view and interact with health information on Facebook pages. Health Information & Libraries Journal.
Crossref
Laura Menabò, Grace Skrzypiec, Phillip Slee & Annalisa Guarini. (2023) What roles matter? An explorative study on bullying and cyberbullying by using the eye‐tracker. British Journal of Educational Psychology.
Crossref
Irene Cheng Chu Chan, Zhaoyu Chen & Daniel Leung. (2023) The more the better? Strategizing visual elements in social media marketing. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 54, pages 268-289.
Crossref
Dong Yang, Zhenyu Cai, Chaoyi Wang, Chen Zhang, Peng Chen & Ronghuai Huang. (2023) Not all engaged students are alike: patterns of engagement and burnout among elementary students using a person-centered approach. BMC Psychology 11:1.
Crossref
John V. Kane, Yamil R. Velez & Jason Barabas. (2023) Analyze the attentive and bypass bias: mock vignette checks in survey experiments. Political Science Research and Methods, pages 1-18.
Crossref
Daniel J. Hopkins & Tori Gorton. (2023) Unsubscribed and Undemanding: Partisanship and the Minimal Effects of a Field Experiment Encouraging Local News Consumption. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Crossref
Graham G. Scott, Zuzana Pinkosova, Eva Jardine & Christopher J. Hand. (2023) “Thinstagram”: Image content and observer body satisfaction influence the when and where of eye movements during instagram image viewing. Computers in Human Behavior 138, pages 107464.
Crossref
Pascal Schneiders, Edgar L. Kist & Birgit Stark. 2022. Handbook of Media and Communication Economics. Handbook of Media and Communication Economics 1 28 .
Anastasia Saponova & Sergey Kulikov. (2022) Integration of survey data and digital footprints: an overview of the main methodological approaches. Sociology: methodology, methods, mathematical modeling (Sociology: 4M) 27:53, pages 117-164.
Crossref
Yue Feng, Zhisheng Wang, Manqun Zhang, Xinjing Qin & Ting Liu. (2022) Exploring the Influence of the Illumination and Painting Tone of Art Galleries on Visual Comfort. Photonics 9:12, pages 981.
Crossref
Marlis Stubenvoll, Alice Binder, Selina Noetzel, Melanie Hirsch & Jörg Matthes. (2022) Living is Easy With Eyes Closed: Avoidance of Targeted Political Advertising in Response to Privacy Concerns, Perceived Personalization, and Overload. Communication Research, pages 009365022211308.
Crossref
Sara AlRabiah, Ben Marder, David Marshall & Rob Angell. (2022) Too much information: An examination of the effects of social self-disclosure embedded within influencer eWOM campaigns. Journal of Business Research 152, pages 93-105.
Crossref
Dustin Carnahan, Ezgi Ulusoy, Rachel Barry, Johnny McGraw, Isabel Virtue & Daniel E Bergan. (2022) What should I believe? A conjoint analysis of the influence of message characteristics on belief in, perceived credibility of, and intent to share political posts. Journal of Communication 72:5, pages 592-603.
Crossref
Jakob Ohme, Kathleen Searles & Claes H de Vreese. (2022) Information processing on smartphones in public versus private. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 27:6.
Crossref
Shira Dvir-Gvirsman. (2020) Understanding news engagement on social media: A media repertoire approach. New Media & Society 24:8, pages 1791-1812.
Crossref
Alice Rogers, Shelley Wilkinson, Olivia Downie & Helen Truby. (2022) Communication of nutrition information by influencers on social media: A scoping review. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 33:3, pages 657-676.
Crossref
Aline Simonetti & Enrique Bigne. (2022) How visual attention to social media cues impacts visit intention and liking expectation for restaurants. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 34:6, pages 2049-2070.
Crossref
Anna Sophie Kümpel. (2022) Social Media Information Environments and Their Implications for the Uses and Effects of News: The PINGS Framework. Communication Theory 32:2, pages 223-242.
Crossref
Xiaoting Huang, Meixin Chen, Ying Wang, Jin Yi, Zhenchun Song & Chris Ryan. (2022) Visitors' spatial-temporal behaviour and their learning experience: A comparative study. Tourism Management Perspectives 42, pages 100951.
Crossref
Filippo Sanfilippo, Tomas Blazauskas, Gionata Salvietti, Isabel Ramos, Silviu Vert, Jaziar Radianti, Tim Majchrzak & Daniel Oliveira. (2022) A Perspective Review on Integrating VR/AR with Haptics into STEM Education for Multi-Sensory Learning. Robotics 11:2, pages 41.
Crossref
Isabell Koinig. (2022) Picturing Mental Health on Instagram: Insights from a Quantitative Study Using Different Content Formats. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19:3, pages 1608.
Crossref
Frauke Zeller. 2022. Handbuch Soziale Medien. Handbuch Soziale Medien 167 187 .
Sue Yeon Syn & JungWon Yoon. (2021) Investigation on reading behaviors and cognitive outcomes of Facebook health information. Online Information Review 45:6, pages 1097-1115.
Crossref
Jeffrey A. Greene, Dana Z. Copeland & Victor M. Deekens. (2020) A Model of Technology Incidental Learning Effects. Educational Psychology Review 33:3, pages 883-913.
Crossref
Penny Triệu, Nicole B. Ellison, Sarita Y. Schoenebeck & Robin N. Brewer. (2021) Implications of Facebook Engagement Types and Feed’s Social Content for Self-Esteem via Social Comparison Processes. Social Media + Society 7:3, pages 205630512110424.
Crossref
Antoine Banks, Ernesto Calvo, David Karol & Shibley Telhami. (2020) #PolarizedFeeds: Three Experiments on Polarization, Framing, and Social Media. The International Journal of Press/Politics 26:3, pages 609-634.
Crossref
Shir Elias, Raz Massad & Amit Lazarov. (2021) Visual Attention Patterns of Socially Anxious Individuals When Using Facebook: An Eye Tracking Study. Behavior Therapy 52:4, pages 995-1007.
Crossref
Yuanyuan Liu & Xiaojing Li. (2021) Information Source, Media Credibility, and Epidemic Control in COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Emergency Management and Disaster Communications 02:01, pages 81-99.
Crossref
M. G. Ceravolo, V. Farina, L. Fattobene, L. Leonelli & G. Raggetti. (2021) Gender-Related Variability in Information Processing of Disclosure Documents. Journal of Consumer Policy 44:2, pages 217-233.
Crossref
Peter M. Dahlgren. (2021) A critical review of filter bubbles and a comparison with selective exposure. Nordicom Review 42:1, pages 15-33.
Crossref
Jenny Lindholm, Tom Carlson & Joachim Högväg. (2020) See Me, Like Me! Exploring Viewers’ Visual Attention to and Trait Perceptions of Party Leaders on Instagram. The International Journal of Press/Politics 26:1, pages 167-187.
Crossref
Brian R. Calfano, Valerie Martinez-Ebers & Aida RamusovicBrian R. Calfano, Valerie Martinez-Ebers & Aida Ramusovic. 2021. The American Professor Pundit. The American Professor Pundit 31 60 .
Andreas Nanz & Jorg Matthes. (2020) Learning from Incidental Exposure to Political Information in Online Environments. Journal of Communication 70:6, pages 769-793.
Crossref
Nicole B Ellison, Penny Triệu, Sarita Schoenebeck, Robin Brewer & Aarti Israni. (2020) Why We Don’t Click: Interrogating the Relationship Between Viewing and Clicking in Social Media Contexts by Exploring the “Non-Click”. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 25:6, pages 402-426.
Crossref
Jamie L. Grigsby & Hillary N. Mellema. (2020) Negative Consequences of Storytelling in Native Advertising. Journal of Interactive Marketing 52, pages 61-78.
Crossref
Sebastian Stier, Johannes Breuer, Pascal Siegers & Kjerstin Thorson. (2019) Integrating Survey Data and Digital Trace Data: Key Issues in Developing an Emerging Field. Social Science Computer Review 38:5, pages 503-516.
Crossref
Weijia Shi & Rebekah H. Nagler. 2020. The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology. The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology 1 7 .
Miriam Steiner. (2020) Soft Presentation of Hard News? A Content Analysis of Political Facebook Posts. Media and Communication 8:3, pages 244-257.
Crossref
Wen-ying Sylvia Chou, Neha Trivedi, Emily Peterson, Anna Gaysynsky, Mindy Krakow & Emily Vraga. (2020) How do social media users process cancer prevention messages on Facebook? An eye-tracking study. Patient Education and Counseling 103:6, pages 1161-1167.
Crossref
Florian Bonensteffen, Sven Zebel & Ellen Giebels. (2020) Sincerity Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Using Eye Tracking to Understand How Victims Interpret an Offender’s Apology in a Simulation of Victim–Offender Mediation. Frontiers in Psychology 11.
Crossref
Frauke Zeller. 2020. Handbuch Soziale Medien. Handbuch Soziale Medien 1 21 .
Tingting Jiang, Xi Wu, Ying Wang & Ye Chen. 2020. Sustainable Digital Communities. Sustainable Digital Communities 428 437 .
Shuang Chen, Lara Schreurs, Sara Pabian & Laura Vandenbosch. (2019) Daredevils on social media: A comprehensive approach toward risky selfie behavior among adolescents. New Media & Society 21:11-12, pages 2443-2462.
Crossref
Emily K. Vraga, Leticia Bode, Anne-Bennett Smithson & Sonya Troller-Renfree. (2019) Accidentally Attentive:Comparing visual, close-ended, and open-ended measures of attention on social media. Computers in Human Behavior 99, pages 235-244.
Crossref
Ovidiu-Andrei Schipor, Radu-Daniel Vatavu & Wenjun Wu. (2019) SAPIENS. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3:EICS, pages 1-24.
Crossref
Manusheela Pokharel, Katheryn R. Christy, Jakob D. Jensen, Elizabeth A. Giorgi, Kevin K. John & Yelena P. Wu. (2018) Do ultraviolet photos increase sun safe behavior expectations via fear? A randomized controlled trial in a sample of U.S. adults. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 42:3, pages 401-422.
Crossref
Pascal Jürgens, Birgit Stark & Melanie Magin. (2019) Two Half-Truths Make a Whole? On Bias in Self-Reports and Tracking Data. Social Science Computer Review, pages 089443931983164.
Crossref
Zaheer Hussain, Boban Simonovic, Edward Stupple & Maggie Austin. (2019) Using Eye Tracking to Explore Facebook Use and Associations with Facebook Addiction, Mental Well-being, and Personality. Behavioral Sciences 9:2, pages 19.
Crossref
Michael Sülflow, Svenja Schäfer & Stephan Winter. (2018) Selective attention in the news feed: An eye-tracking study on the perception and selection of political news posts on Facebook. New Media & Society 21:1, pages 168-190.
Crossref
Hui Li, Nan Chen, Minjuan Zhou, Chenyi He, Jingbo Li & Yujie Shi. 2019. Cross-Cultural Design. Methods, Tools and User Experience. Cross-Cultural Design. Methods, Tools and User Experience 248 265 .
Sergio Salvatore, Alessia Rochira & Nik Kharlamov. 2019. Symbolic Universes in Time of (Post)Crisis. Symbolic Universes in Time of (Post)Crisis 235 253 .
Emily K. Vraga & Melissa Tully. (2018) Who Is Exposed to News? It Depends on How You Measure: Examining Self-Reported Versus Behavioral News Exposure Measures. Social Science Computer Review, pages 089443931881205.
Crossref
Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang, Shanton Chang, Karin Verspoor & Ornella Clavisi. (2018) The Use of Web-Based Technologies in Health Research Participation: Qualitative Study of Consumer and Researcher Experiences. Journal of Medical Internet Research 20:10, pages e12094.
Crossref
Jason C Coronel & Matthew D Sweitzer. (2018) Remembering Political Messages in Dynamic Information Environments: Insights from Eye Movements. Human Communication Research 44:4, pages 374-398.
Crossref
Elizabeth Johnson Avery & Sejin Park. (2018) HPV vaccination campaign fear visuals: An eye-tracking study exploring effects of visual attention and type on message informative value, recall, and behavioral intentions. Public Relations Review 44:3, pages 321-330.
Crossref
Johanna Dunaway, Kathleen Searles, Mingxiao Sui & Newly Paul. (2018) News Attention in a Mobile Era. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 23:2, pages 107-124.
Crossref
Alicja Waszkiewicz-Raviv, Justyna Jasiewicz & Anna Jupowicz-Ginalska. (2018) Walencja emocjonalna online. Kompetencje cyfrowe a pomiar reakcji emocjonalnych w świetle badań jakościowych i biometrycznych. Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis. Studia de Cultura 4:10, pages 114-124.
Crossref
Hajin Lim & Susan R. Fussell. (2017) Making Sense of Foreign Language Posts in Social Media. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 1:CSCW, pages 1-16.
Crossref
Leticia Bode, Emily K. Vraga & Sonya Troller-Renfree. (2017) Skipping politics: Measuring avoidance of political content in social media. Research & Politics 4:2, pages 205316801770299.
Crossref
Emily Vraga. (2016) Party differences in political content on social media. Online Information Review 40:5, pages 595-609.
Crossref
Julian De Freitas & Alon Hafri. (2022) Moral Thin-Slicing: How Snap Judgments Affect Online Sharing of Moral Content. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Crossref

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.