Social Media Features Attract College Students to News Websites

96 - Newspaper Research Journal • Vol. 34. No. 4 • Fall 2013

Social Media Features AttractCollege Students to News Websitesby T. Makana Chock, John M. Wolf, Gina Masullo Chen, Valarie N.Schweisberger and Yi Wang

Younger readers were more likely to spend time on a localnews website and report a greater likelihood to returnto the site after social media features were added. Thecollege-age students also perceived content on the site asmore valuable and as having a greater influence on them.

cV_-learly, it is no secret that local newspapers have largely failed to attract

college-age readers. While 18- to 24-year-olds are crucial to local newspapersto replace aging readers,' they are the age group least likely to pick up dailynewspapers.^ At a time when overall newspaper readership and advertisingrevenues are plummeting,^ news organizations can ill afford to fail these youngerreaders. Research has found that if young people do not pick up a newspaperhabit early, they are not likely to develop one later.̂ Despite this trend, it isclear that young people want the news and information^ typically featured innewspapers. They regularly read campus newspapers,*^ turn to their hometownpapers while away at schooF and seek out national and international newsonline.* Yet, they may see local newspapers or news sites as lacking the newsand information they desire.'

At the same time, college-age young people are flocking to social mediato fill their needs for news, information and entertainment.'" Increasingly, lo-cal newspapers are trying to use social media tools—such as a Twitter feeds.

Chock is an assistant professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of PublicCommunications at Syracuse University. Wolf is a university lecturer in the

Department of Humanities at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Chen is anassistant professor in the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at The

University of Southern Mississippi. Schweisberger is a doctoral candidate and Wangis a master's student. Both are in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

at Syracuse University.

Chock, Wolf, Chen, Schweisberger and Wang: Social Media Features Attract - 97

Facebook pages and opportunities for readers to create profiles and interact ontheir news sites—as a means to woo readers, particularly younger ones." Otherresearch has examined how personalizing news websites^^ or dedicating specificonline or print content to younger people may draw these elusive readers." Littleresearch, however, has focused specifically on whether social media features onnewspaper websites are doing the job newspaper editors may be hoping theydo—enticing younger readers. This current study aimed to fill this gap by usingsurveys and focus groups to assess college students' attitudes toward the soledaily newspaper website in a mid-sized Northeastern city before, immediatelyafter and a longer period after the site added interactive social media features.The interactive features allowed users to create profiles about themselves on thesite, similar to Facebook profiles. It also allowed users to post content, includingtext, photos and videos, as well as follow others on the site.

As such, this current study offers two contributions to newspaper research.First, it examines college students' attitudes toward the local news website overtime, offering longitudinal evidence of the impact of social media interaction onattitudes toward a local news website. Second, the project uses what was learnedin this first phase to generate questions for focus groups to explore in greaterdetail how college students views both the news website and its new interactiontools. To answer these questions, the focus of the research is a news websiteaffiliated with the 85,000 daily circulation'^ newspaper in a metropolitan areaof about 500,000 residents.^^ This study fills a gap in the literature by examiningwhether the introduction of social media features will lead college-age studentsto visit a news website more frequently, stay on the site longer and report agreater likelihood to return to the site in the future. This study also examineswhether the introduction of these tools would lead younger people to identifymore with the site by feeling they are more similar to others on the site and see-ing the content as engaging, valuable and infiuential to them. These questionswere considered because interactive features of a news site that allow usersto engage with others have been found to be important to predicting whetherusers, particularly college students, will return to the site.'** In addition, peoplewho feel they can identify with others on a news site, participate in an ongoingdialogue with news sources, or feel a sense of community on the site are morelikely to return to the site.'^ As such, this study provides valuable insight forboth news practitioners and researchers on whether the growing addition ofsocial media tools on newspaper websites attracts 18- to 24-year-olds.

Theoretical FrameworkTwo theoretical frameworks guide this research: uses and gratifications'*

and social identity theory," along with the related theories of social comparisonand self-categorization.^° A uses-and-gratifications approach assumes peopleuse media to meet their psychological or social needs, so media use is goal-directed.^' Social identity theory focuses on how people see themselves in rela-

98 - Newspaper Research Journal • Vol. 34, No. 4 • Fall 2013

tion to others,^^ and social comparison and self-categorization theories proposethe means by which these comparisons are d^^

Uses and GratificationsUses and gratifications is particularly suitable for studying online media

because audiences today have more media choices than in the past, so theyhave more power to pick a medium that gratifies their needs.̂ * A uses-and-gratifications approach has been applied to many different types of online media,including social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and blogging.^^ It examineswhat people do with media, not what media do to them. This makes a uses-and-gratifications approach particularly relevant for studying gratificationsmet through interactive media, such as the features added to a news websiteexamined in this study. This study proposes that college students whose needsare met by interactive social media tools on the site will visit the site more fre-quently, stay on the site longer and express greater likelihood they will returnto the site again. The needs examined were identifying or feeling similar toother users on the site and seeing the site as having content that is valuable,engaging and influential to them.

Sociai identitySocial identity theory and the related theories of social comparison and

self-categorization also inform this research. These theories are relevant becausesome of the needs predicted to be gratified by the social media features studiedin this research relate to how people see themselves in relation to others. Forexample, feeling similar to other users on the site involves a process of compar-ing oneself to others and then acting on this comparison. Social identity theoryposits that social identity is more important than personal identity, if people feelmore similar to others in the group.^' Individuals become groups when theycompare themselves with others and share a way of categorizing themselvesthat provides a collective group identity.̂ ^

Prior research has demonstrated these theories help explain selective me-dia exposure, supporting the idea that media users choose to consume mediamessages associated with groups to which they feel similar.̂ ^ In this study, thetheories suggest college-age students would compare themselves to others onthe news website. If they felt similar to other users, they would feel part of thesite's virtual community. Therefore, they would want to use the site again, useit for longer periods and be more likely to return to the site in the future.

Study FrameworicTo examine the impact of the addition of social media tools on the news

website, this study examined three main constructs: website usage, similarityto others on the site in a process called identification and attitudes toward thesite. Phase one employed three surveys, administered before, immediately afterand during a longer period after the social media tools were introduced. Phase

Chock, Wolf, Chen, Schweisberger and Wang: Social Media Features Attract - 99

two used four focus groups.

Website UseUses and gratifications theory proposes people will use media that meets

their needs. In this study, it was predicted students would use the local newssite more, spend more time on the site and be more likely to return to the sitein the future if the site gratified their needs for news and information.

IdentificationSeveral experiences have been found to drive young adults to use websites,

including the site's credibility and a sense the site was useful, up to date andgave users something to talk about.^' However, the most important factor wasthat the site provided a sense of community or connection with other users.™

This sense of connection with others stems from a sense that people are partof a community of people who are similar to them. People evaluate whetherthey are similar to other people by being exposed to them and assessing themin a process called identification.^' Because this study focused on online cormec-tion, we conceptualized community as a somewhat weaker feeling of belongingor camaraderie with others than one would expect offline.̂ ^ For young adults,social media features are integral to social interactions, as the web has becomea normal way to interact with others and maintain social relationships.^^ Iden-tification has been found to be an important consideration in attracting andretaining college audiences.^"

In addition, group identification has been shown to result in larger effectsizes when users identify their group as the target of a message.^' Following thisreasoning, it makes sense that people will compare themselves to other people ona website. If they feel similar to other users, they will feel greater identificationwith the site. This will mean they will feel greater engagement with the site andsee the site as more valuable and that the content has a greater effect on them.

Research Question and Hypotheses

This framework leads to the following hypotheses and research question.

RQ1:What topics on a local news website interest college students?

HI:The introduction of social media features will result in more frequent visits

to the website, longer duration visits to the website and greater likelihood ofusing the site in the future.

H2:The introduction of social media features will result in increased feeling of


similarity with other users, sense of being affected by site content, sense site isengaging and believe site is valuable.

Method

Phase OneSixty-one undergraduates (72 percent female) at a private Northeastern uni-

versity participated in data collection at three points over the fall 2009 semester.Most (70 percent) were freshmen, and on average participants were 18.36 yearsold {SD = 5.16). Respondents were recruited from introductory mass communi-cation classes and received extra credit for their participation in the study. Allrespondents in phase one were undergraduate, communication degree-seekingstudents. The first stage of data collection took place immediately before thelaunch of the new interactive tools on the news website. Students were askedto register on the site and explore it for two days before completing a question-naire. Aside from this initial prompt, students' use of the site was voluntaryand unprompted throughout data collection. Stage two took place about twoweeks later; and stage three occurred about 1.5 months after stage two. Unlessspecified, each variable was measured in all three stages.

Dependent VariabiesWebsite Use

This concept was measured in three ways. Students rated how frequentlythey visited the local news site on a one (never) to seven (more than once aday) scale (M = 2.89, SD = 1.69). On a one (do not use) to seven (over one hour)scale, the students also rated the duration of time they typically spent on thenews website (M = 2.49, SD = 2.00). For 13 news topics commonly covered bynewspapers, participants rated on a one (not at all likely) to seven (very likely)scale which topics on the news site they were likely to visit in the future. Thetopics were: politics, arts and entertainment, style, local news, national news,world news, weather, sports, science and technology, business, religion, jobs,automobiles, real estate, classifieds, shopping and ad placement. Ratings forfuture likelihood of use were averaged into a single measure with high reli-ability (Cronbach's a = 0.91), M = 3.22, SD = 1.31,).

identificationThis concept was measured by asking the students to rate on a one (very

dissimilar to) to seven (very similar to) scale how they felt about people whoregularly used the website. (M = 3.89, SD = 1.57).

Website FeaturesStudents were asked to rate on a one (very dissatisfied) to seven (very

satisfied) scale how they felt about existing website features: the ability to postcomments related to a story, ability to read comments posted by others, ability

Chock, Wolf Chen, Schweisberger and Wang: Social Media Features Attract -101

to upload and share photos and ability to upload and share videos. These wereaveraged into a single measure with high reliability (Cronbach's a = 0.89, M =4.83, SD = 1.23).

Attitudes Toward SiteThis concept was measured in three ways. The first two required students

to rate on a one (strongly disagree)to seven (strongly agree) scale theiragreement with a series of state-ments. Seeing the site as engagingwas measured by assessing agree-ment to, "I find the content on thissite to be engaging" (M = 4.96, SD =1.09). Seeing the site as valuable wasmeasured by assessing agreementto, "The time I spend on the site isvaluable to me in gathering newsand information" (M = 4.92, SD =1.32). Participants assessed howinfluential they found the site byrating on a one (not at all) to seven(very much) scale in response to thequestion, "How much do you thinkyou are affected by the content?" (M= 4.12, SD = 1.5).

A second key finding fromthis study is that interactivityalone is not enough to drawyounger readers. As resultsof this study show, collegestudents rely on local newssites for very specific typesof content, particularlyweather, local and nationalnews, sports news, and artsand entertainment news.

Phase TwoTwenty-six undergraduates

ages 18 to 26 participated in fourfocus groups during a week in April2010 in exchange for extra coursecredit. Half the participants werewhite, and most were women (15female; nine male; two did not disclose gender). Based on results from phaseone, the focus groups dealt with what factors influenced students' decisions touse the local news website, particularly in regard to sports coverage, entertain-ment news and use of social media tools on the site.

Findings—Phase One

RQ1 asked what topics interested college-age students on the local news websiteunder study in this project.

Overall, weather was the most popular topic that drew students to the newswebsite over all three phases, drawing roughly 60 percent of the students in


each phase. [See Table 1] In phase one, national news (47.54 percent) was sec-ond most popular, followed by sports (44.26 percent). For phase two, arts andentertainment news (49.18 percent) grew in popularity, with local news (45.90percent) coming in third. For phase three, national news (45.90 percent) againwas the second most popular topic, followed by a tie for third place with artsand entertainment and local news (40.98 percent). Sports news came in fourthfor phase two (42.62 percent) and phase three (37.70 percent), with interest insports roughly 30 percent greater for men than for women. For other topics,results were generally equal for men and women.

H1 predicted that the introduction of social media features would result in morefrequent visits to the news website, ionger duration visits and greater likelibood tovisit tbe site in the future.

Partial support was found for this hypothesis. Paired i-tests were used totest this hypothesis. Duration of visits showed a statistically significant increase

Table 1Percentages of Students

News Topic

PoliticsArts & Entertainment

MaleFemale

StyleLocal News

MaleFemale

National NewsMaleFemale

World NewsWeather

MaleFemale

SportsMaleFemale

Science & TechnologyBusinessReligionJobsAutosReal EstateClassifiedsShoppingAd Placement

Interested

Stage 1

36.07%42.6235.2945.4518.0336.0735.2936.3647.5441.1850.0024.5959.0258.8259.0944.2676.4731.828.2018.034.928.201.643.283:289.836.56

in Each News

Stage 2

27.87%49.1841.1852.2713.1145.9052.9443.1837.7041.1836.3618.0355.7447.0659.0942.6270.5931.828.209.834.926.566.560.00ÍM16.394.92

Topic for Each Stage

Stage 3

34.43%40.9847.0638.6411.4840.9852.9436.3645.9047.0645.4521.3157.3852.9459.0937.7058.8229.556.5621.318.204.923.281.643.2814.756.56

Chock, Wolf, Chen, Schweisberger and Wang: Social Media Features Attract -103

from stage one (before the launch of social media tools) to stage three (45 daysafter the launch), offering partial support for Hlb. Before the launch, studentsscored 2.10 on average on the duration of time spent on the site scale {SD =1.01), but this climbed to 2.39 on average {SD = 1.12) in stage three (p = 0.02).Significant differences were not found between stages one and two or betweenstages two and three.

In addition, partial support was found for Hlc because students reportedgreater likelihood of using the website in the future in stage three (M = 3.34,SD = 1.34), compared to stage one (M = 2.99, SD = 1.29, p = 0.05). However,likelihood of using the site again did not differ between stages two and threeor between stages one and two. Frequency of visits did not significantly changeduring the three stages of data collection. Therefore, HI a was not supported.

H2 predicted the introduction of sociai media features wouid resuit in increasedfeeling of simiiarity or identification with other website users, sense of being af-fected by site content, beiief site is engaging and beiief site is vaiuabie.

Figure 1Differences by Stage for Duration of Using News Site, Likelihood of Future Use,Sense Site is Valuable, Feeling Affected by Content and Identifying with SiteUsers

Ounllon

future Use

Valuable

Affected 6v

Identification

• stage 3

O Stage 2

•Stage 1

Atl variables are measured on 1 to 7 scales.Differences are statistically significant atp < .05 betxoeen stages one and three for duration, likelihood to use the sitein the future and feeling affected by the site and between stages 2 and 3 for feeling identification with those on the siteand between 1 and 2 for seeing the site as valuable.


Partial support was found for this hypothesis, which was tested usingpaired i-tests.

Partial support was found for H2a. Students felt more similar to others onthe news website in stage three (M = 4.19, SD = 1.49), compared to stage two(M = 3.71, SD = 1.44, p = 0.01). However, differences in feelings of similaritybetween stage one (M = 3.76, SD = 1.78) and stage two {p = 0.08) and betweenstage one and stage three (p = 0.06) were each trending in the hypothesizeddirection but fell short of statistical significance.

Students felt more affected by the news site's content in stage three (M =4.33, SD = 1.47), compared to stage one (M = 3.87, SD = 1.63), offering partialsupport for H2b. However, the difference between stages two (M = 4.16, SD= 1.41) and three was trending in the hypothesized direction but fell short ofstatistical significance {p = 0.08).

Students found the site more valuable in stage two (M = 5.19, SD = 1.14),compared to stage one (M = 4.69, SD = 1.30, p = 0.003), offering partial supportfor H2d. No significant differences were found between stages one and threeor between stages two and three.

No significant differences by stage were found for students seeing the siteas engaging, so H2c is not supported. Figure 1 shows differences by stages foridentification, being affected by the news site, seeing the site as valuable, likeli-hood to use the site gain and duration of using the site.

Findings—Phase TwoPhase two of this study sought to answer three research questions, regarding

what factors influences students' decisions to use the news website, particularlyin regard to sports and entertainment news as well as social media features.In general, participants reported that a more attractive and user-friendly sitewould encourage them to use the site more. They described the site as clutteredand amateurish with confusing tabs on the main home page.

In regard to sports coverage, students reported they rely on other sources,such as ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, or the university website. "ESPN covers(our college teams) enough, so I don't have to read local news to get coverage,"^*one student said. A vocal, but smaller group of participants expressed interestin seeing more university sports coverage on the local news site.

Participants reported a lack of style and aesthetics on the local news websitekept them from using the site to find out about arts and entertainment news.For instance, one participant expressed a desire for a "nice calendar" of localevents, rather than a list. Another suggested pictures of past events couldprovide context to such a calendar. Participants noted that greater interactionbetween the site and the newspaper's Facebook page would be beneficial. Asone person explained: We "get information about what's going on mainly fromFacebook."^^ In regard to social media interactivity on the site, some participantswanted more features than the site provides. For example, students expressed a


desire for a student blog section on the news website. As one person explained:

If (the website) hired a student blogger ... I would definitely look atit ^"

Participants also suggested greater integrafion between the website andsocial media, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as a mobile application forthe site, which was not available at the time.

Discussion and Conclusion

Clearly, these findings suggests social media features on a news websitematter to younger readers—and may have the power to increase their interestin the site. For example, after the introduction of social media features on thesite, college students in this study were more likely to identify with other peopleon the site, feel affected by the site's content, see the content as valuable, spendlonger periods of time on the site and express greater likelihood of visiting thesite in the future. However, it is important to note these changes did not happenimmediately. In most cases, it was not until phase three that students' attitudestoward the site changed following the introducfion of social media tools. Asdigital natives, college-age students were born in a world where technologyand interactivity are the standard, rather than a luxury. It is logical to believethey would not only appreciate social media tools on a news website, but expectthem. In fact, as the focus group results show, students want more interactivityon the site, particularly geared to their interests.

A second key finding from this study is that interacfivity alone is not enoughto draw younger readers. As results of this study show, college students rely onlocal news sites for very specific types of content, particularly weather, local andnational news, sports news and arts and entertainment news. They also seekout this content in other places. Clearly, as media sources become increasinglyfragmented in the digital age, it is illogical to assume future generations of newsconsumers will rely on a single source of news, such as a local news website,to meet all their needs. In addition, to attract these digital natives, news sitesmust be aesthetically pleasing, easy to use and keep up with trends. Otherwise,college students who are coming of age in a world where media are increas-ingly participatory and audience driven will ultimately abandon traditionalnews sources for new ones that meet their needs and fit their lifestyles better.

Limitations

Although this study makes an important contribution to understanding howthe implementation of social media features can affect readership, opinion andidentification, it is not without its limitations. One such noteworthy example


is the size of the sample. While several of the hypotheses tested in this studyproved to be significant, several more were approaching significance. A largersample size could help to make these observations more robust and engageresearchers to gage at what level social media variables affect local news web-site readership, opinions and identification. Also the sample was overwhelm-ingly female; introducing more male respondents may offer different insightsinto how social media are used on local news websites as well as allow futureresearchers to examine the differences between male and female respondentsbetter. Another notable limitation of the study is that it assumed that all re-spondents were non-residents of the city where the university is located. Whilethis assumption is sensible given the traditional makeup of the student bodyat the university under consideration, residency would likely have an effect onthe relationship the respondent has with the news website under investigationand, thus, should be taken into account in future studies of local news websites.

Future ResearchThis study provides a foundation for future research by beginning to explain

how social media tools affect college students' attitudes toward a news website.In the future, researchers should examine in more detail how students use theinteractive social media tools on a news website. Examining more than onenews website also would be beneficial to see if differences are related to sizeof the community or the type of interactivity the website offers. In addition, itwould be worthwhile to examine the extent to which college students interactwith local news sites using their own personal social media networks, such asFacebook or Twitter. Only by understanding how college students interact withlocal news across platforms will the role that social media can play in attractingthis audience become clear.

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Audiences with Media Characters," Mass Communication and Society 4, no. 3 (August 2001): 245-264.32. Chen, "Tweet This: A Uses and Gratifications Perspective on How Active Twitter Use

Gratifies a Need to Cormect with Others;" Leda Cooks, Mari Casteneda Paredes and Erica Scharrer,"There's 'O Place' Like Home: Searching for Community on Oprah.com," in Women and EverydayUses of the Internet: Agency and Identity, eds. Mia Consalvo and Susanna Paasonen (New York:Routiedge, 2002), 139-161.

33. Center for the Digital Future, "Annual Internet Survey by the Center for the Digital FutureFinds Large Increased in Use of Online Newspapers," USC Annenberg School for Communicationand Journalism, (April 29, 2009), <http://annenberg.usc.edu/News%20and%20Events/News / 090429CDF.aspx>.

34. Cohen, "Defining Identification: A Theoretical Look at the Identification of Audienceswith Media Characters."

35. Julie M. Duck, Michael A. Hogg and Deborah J. Terry, "Social Identity and Perceptions ofMedia Persuasion: Are We Always Less Influenced Than Others?" Journal of Applied Psychology 29,no. 9 (September 1999): 1879-1899; Michael D. Slater, "Reinforcing Spirals: The Mutual Infiuence ofMedia Selectivity and Media Effects and Their Impact on Individual Behavior and Social Identity,"Communication Theory 17, no. 3 (August 2007): 281-303.

36. Focus group data from "2010 Syracuse.com User Study," April 2010.37. Focus group data from "2010 Syracuse.com User Study," April 2010.38. Focus group data from "2010 Syracuse.com User Study," April 2010.

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