Open AccessExploring the Impact of Social and Source Cues on News Selection
Author(s) -
Ayodeji O. Awobamise,
Yosra Jarrar
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plaridel (university of the philippines - online)/plaridel
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 1
eISSN - 2508-0504
pISSN - 1656-2534
DOI - 10.52518/2020.16.1-06aworar
Subject(s) - ideology , advertising , social media , selection (genetic algorithm) , set (abstract data type) , politics , perception , political science , dissemination , psychology , the internet , public relations , news media , social psychology , internet privacy , business , computer science , world wide web , law , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , programming language
The current reality in Nigeria is that media houses choose news and the way eventsare covered based on their ideological or political leanings. At the same time, audiencemembers appear to also choose news contents that reinforce their pre-existingperceptions or views while avoiding those that go against these views. Based on Searsand Freedman’s (1967) review of selective exposure or information utility, thisexperimental study set out to examine the possible influence of online news socialendorsements on news selectivity in Nigeria. Findings reveal that the selective choicesnews consumers make with regard to consuming and disseminating news on the Internet aresignificantly influenced by online social endorsements such as Likes andrecommendations. Findings also show that the effect of social endorsement is strongeramong partisan respondents selecting articles from an ideologically misaligned sourceand that the presence of social endorsements significantly reduce partisanselectivity.