http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3439-0417
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Abstract
Online news users interact with news on digital platforms in different ways. Some take advantage of the technical affordances that allow sharing, liking and commenting, while others do not. Based on a national survey of the Australian adult online news users, this study explores online news users’ different modes of interaction on digital platforms: non-interaction, signalling interaction, and expressive interaction. This study demonstrates that different types of online news users are largely determined by a combination of structural influences and individual factors related to the uptake, reception, and dissemination of news. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on news engagement by exploring the concept of interaction as a more specific term to describe online news behaviours, and identifies different types of news users connected to, rather than disembodied from, their practice. In doing so, this article advances the understanding of news consumption behaviour and its implications for engaging news audiences in the digital age.
Acknowledgements
This article analysed data from a survey of news consumption carried out in Australia as part of the 2018 Reuters Institute Digital News Report project. The authors would like to thank all those who contributed to the 2018 Reuters Institute Digital News Report project. We are also grateful to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Specified news engagement activities in the RIDNR survey: 1) Rate, like or favourite a news story, 2) Share a news story via email, 3) Share a news story via social network, 4) Share a news story via an instant messenger, 5) Post or send a news-related picture or video to a social network site, 6) Post or send a picture or video to a news website/news organisation, 7) Comment on a news story in a social network, 8) Comment on a news story on a news website, 9) Write a blog on a news or political issue, 10) Vote in an online poll via a news site or social network, 11) Take part in a campaign or group based around a news subject, 12) Talk with friends and colleagues about a news story (face to face), and 13) Talk online with friends and colleagues about a news story. As we were interested in news interaction behaviours on digital platforms, in the ‘Signalling Interaction’ and ‘Expressive Interaction’ categories, this study excluded news users who participated in one of the four categories: Vote in an online poll via a news site or social network; Take part in a campaign or group based around a news subject; Talk with friends and colleagues about a news story (face to face) and; Talk online with friends and colleagues about a news story. The first two can be viewed as political activities and the latter two are more or less ‘interpersonal’ communication.