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The Role of Website Format; Blog Use; and Information-gathering Acquaintance in Online Message Assessment
... (1) Demographic variables Relevant scholars have found that the audience's age, sex, educational level, residence, socioeconomic status, occupation, income and other variables have an impact on the reliability of information [15][16][17]. The research found that education and socioeconomic status are the important predictors of information credibility, and there is a significant correlation between the two and the reliability of information [15]. ...
... Age, gender and educational level are negatively correlated with information credibility. Individuals of older age, the male gender, high socioeconomic status and high education level have low ratings of information credibility, and the age variation is most significant [17]. In the secondary analysis of Chinese audience surveys, variables such as gender and educational level are negatively correlated with information credibility [23]. ...
... Personal factors include demographic background, media preference and trust tendency. The assessment of information credibility was influenced by different degrees of demographic background factors, such as age, gender, education and party affiliation [17,20,39]. The credibility of information is positively related to the individual's preference for the media and the frequency of use [17]. ...
Information credibility assessment has traditionally been understood in the online information processing context. This study extends this literature by exploring information credibility assessment mechanisms in the online social network context. In doing so, it responds to the emerging call for an understanding of the online social network context under the operational mechanism of information credibility assessment. Specifically, this study proposes a neural computing approach based on the stimulate–organism–response framework to determine the process, strategy and clue of online social network information assessment. Drawing on the theory of the Technology Acceptance Model and the theory of reasoned action, and based on a survey of 399 returned online questionnaires, we find that the involvement of online social network information, information sources and information transfer channels has a significant positive correlation with information usefulness and credibility, while information scenarios have no significant impact on usefulness and credibility, and the credibility of information is significant to the user’s information adoption behavior. Different from the predictions made in the literature, the information scenario does not affect information credibility and information usefulness. Conclusions and academic and practical implications are discussed.
... The experiment utilized four informational websites, similar to those used in information evaluation studies by [5], [11], [43]. To minimize familiarity [44], and bias [18] without compromising the credibility of the websites [45] four websites were selected from a list of 12, retrieved from pages ten and beyond of Google and Bing search engine results pages (SERPs). The selection process was conducted by three experts through face and validity testing to ensure the relevance and appropriateness of the websites for the study. ...
... By message credibility, the aspects of the message involve information quality, accuracy, structure, and content. Message credibility consists of research on the mechanisms by which characteristics of the message impact its perceived credibility (Greer & Pan, 2015). Finally, medium credibility cares about the channel that delivered the message. ...
... The large number of foundations makes the website the most appropriate means to be able to provide information to the public, because the website is not only a means to provide information in the form of text but can also provide information in the form of location mapping [4]. The use of the website as a means of information and communication in the modern era is very common, not only for information but also used as a place to communicate and for transactions [5] [6]. Website as a very effective means of disseminating information for use by Nahdlatul Wathan managers, with a large number of foundations spread all over West Nusa Tenggara, the website's role as a place to disseminate information is a very important factor, because by utilizing the website all the information you want to know can be done globally, so that everyone anywhere and at any time can find out all the information quickly [7]. ...
The Nahdlatul Wathan organization is one of the largest and most widespread organizations in West Nusa Tenggara, especially in East Lombok. The number of foundations under the Nahdlatul Wathan organization has increased rapidly from time to time. But parties from the organization’s Nahdaltul Wathan were still having difficulty processing data and getting the latest information about the number and conditions of each foundation under the auspices of Nahdlatul Wathan. This is because the management of the Nahdalatul Wathan organization does not yet have a system that can manage the data as mentioned above. So the Nahdlatul Wathan organization needs the media that was used to overcome it which is called a web-based information system foundation that uses the PHP programming language and MySQL as its database data. With this system, it can simplify and streamline the performance of the Nahdlatul Wathan management, as well as the community, to get the latest information on the development and number of foundations under the Nahdalatul Wathan, which can be accessed quickly and precisely, so it does not take a long time.
... Blog websites support viewpoints in the form of comments, hyperlinks and pictures to other related blogs or refer to older posts, which is known as track backs. For example, the website WordPress [79], Blogger [40], readers can input their opinions in the form of comments. Comments are descriptive opinions on the blog posts which is the metric for the popularity of a blog post. ...
Due to wide streaming multimedia blogs over the social networks, volume prediction has become indispensable for the analysis of blog popularity. As a rule base driven method, Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System has gained popularity in various prediction tasks for its efficiency and ease of implementation. In this paper, two modified Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System models have been proposed by tuning its premise and consequent parameters using (a) Particle swarm optimization and (b) Genetic algorithms, to improve its predictive performance. Particle Swarm Optimization helps in reducing the training and cross validation error of the predictive model whereas Genetic Algorithms optimize minimum clustering radius which aids in the formation of rule base. Comparative analysis of proposed method has been performed against Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines and basic Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System. Both of the proposed variants have outperformed state-of-art techniques using Genetic algorithms and Particle swarm optimization when tested on UCI public dataset and real dataset of Twitter, making it well suitable for multimedia blog volume forecasting.
Individuals are facing message bombardments from many tools. In such a process, trying to reach individuals at any moment using different tools is important for the effectiveness of communication. This requirement led to a new process called transmedia. The transmedia storytelling, which is carried out in order to ensure that the messages planned to be transmitted in transmedia are even more effective, is one of the heavy-duty practices of this new process. This study was carried out in order to reveal how blogger mothers used transmedia storytelling practices, the difference of this use from traditional motherhood, and the role of transmedia storytelling practices in changing form of motherhood. In the study, blogger mothers were found to use transmedia storytelling practices heavily in order to influence their followers. It was also concluded that blogger mothers play the roles of heroines, friends, and dynamic and assistant heroines.
This article explores how the changing nature of journalistic work and organization are affecting the profession, the way it is perceived by personnel, the roles played by journalists, and autonomy of journalists. It finds that the technical and economic changes are disrupting the established professional status, roles, and practices of journalists, removing professional control that previously existed.
This study employs an online survey of politically interested Internet users to examine the degree to which Internet experience predicts reliance on the World Wide Web (Web) and Web credibility. Respondents in this study represent an experienced group of Internet users. The average user had been online 6.2 years. However, they regularly engaged in only 9.4 of 22 possible online activities, suggesting they regularly visit a core group of sites. Although years online and number of online activities emerged as distinct measures of Internet experience, neither strongly predicted Web reliance or Web credibility. Neither Internet experience variable predicted any of the six measures of Internet credibility. Number of activities did not influence Web reliance and years online was negatively related, indicating that those who had been online for a shorter time were more likely to rely on the Web than veteran users.
News blogs (Web logs dedicated to the dissemination of news) are becoming the default political news source for a growing number of well-educated and apparently well-informed segments of the population. Bloggers and blog advocates suggest that blogs, online lists, and their various analogs offer something different and potentially unique to the 21st-century citizen. At their best, blogs represent a new form of open-sourced/open-access partisan press that promises to bring McLuhan’s tribal context one step closer to fulfillment. At their worst, blogs represent the latest form of mass-mediated triviality and celebrity spectacle, with the potential to create and sustain insulated enclaves of intolerance predicated on little more than personal illusion, rumor, and politically motivated innuendo. Employing first a medium theoretic and then a symbolic interactionist lens, the present study considers some of the key structural features of news blogs and discusses some of the personal, social, and political significances of blogs and blogging.
This study surveyed politically interested Internet users online during the 2000 campaign to examine whether they view Internet sources as credible and whether reliance on the Web, reliance on traditional sources, convenience of using the Web, or political and demographic variables predict credibility of online media. A greater percentage of respondents judged online media credible in 2000 than in the 1996 presidential campaign. Reliance on traditional media proved the best predictor of online credibility followed by political trust and convenience. On the other hand, reliance on the Web did not influence credibility of information found there.
This study surveyed politically interested Web users online to investigate the degree to which reliance on traditional and online sources predicts credibility of online newspapers, television news, news-magazines, candidate literature, and political issue-oriented sites after controlling for demographic and political factors. Reliance on online and traditional media was the strongest predictor of credibility of online sources. Reliance on traditional media tended to be a stronger predictor of credibility of its online counterpart than reliance on the Web in general.
When individuals apply social rules and social expectations while working on a computer, are they directly interacting with the computer as an independent social actor or source (the CAS model), or are they orienting to an unseen programmer or imagined person in another room (the CAM model)? Two studies provide critical tests of these competing models. In Study 1, all participants were exposed to an identical interaction with computers. In one condition, participants were told that they were dealing with computers; in another, they were told that they were interacting with the software programmers. Consistent with the CAS model, there were significant differences between the two conditions. Study 2 performed a constructive replication of Study 1 by replacing the programmer with a hypothetical networker. Again, differences between the two conditions provide evidence that people respond to the computer as an independent source of information.
This study surveyed Weblog users online to investigate how credible they view blogs as compared to traditional media as well as other online sources. This study also explores the degree to which reliance on Weblogs as well as traditional and online media sources predicts credibility of Weblogs after controlling for demographic and political factors. Weblog users judged blogs as highly credible—more credible than traditional sources. They did, however, rate traditional sources as moderately credible. Weblog users rated blogs higher on depth of information than they did on fairness.
Contributes to research on media credibility and media use by surveying politically-interested Web users online to examine whether they view Web publications as being as credible as their traditionally-delivered counterparts. Finds online media tended to be judged more credible than their traditional versions, but that both online and traditional media were only judged as somewhat credible. (SR)
This article explores how the changing nature of journalistic
work and organization are affecting the profession, the way it is perceived by personnel, the roles played by journalists, and autonomy of journalists. It finds that the technical and economic changes are disrupting the established professional status, roles, and practices of journalists, removing professional control that previously existed.
This study of online journalists at 12 daily newspapers found that understanding the audience, competing with other media and providing content for the widest possible audience were important.
Spurred by the popularity of online journals and mobile devices such as iPods and cell phones, newspaper Web sites are adding blogs and podcasts to reach new readers. The News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., which began putting blogs on its site in summer 2004, offers 17, covering topics such as sports, education, state government and business. Knight Ridder newspapers have more than 100 blogs on more than 30 Web sites. At Gannet Co., 16 of 91 daily newspapers have staff-written blogs, and some feature blogs by local residents. In the podcasting realm, The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville produces at least three a week on each of its four channels, news and opinion, entertainment, pods/rods and sports. For the Chicago Tribune, a political blog started in 2004 is proving to be significant. The Los Angeles Times's site has a mixture of blogs written by newspaper staffers with expertise in a given field.
Deloitte & Touche USA LLP launched an innovative research, outreach and training effort called "Next Generation Initiatives" aimed to bridge the differences across generations in the workplace. The research included surveys which measured beliefs within the company, young people's attitudes toward the ideal career and employer expectations, views on technology and how to use it, attitudes toward globalization, and the effect of gender and ethnic differences on young attitudes. The company also launched programs aimed at promoting a corporate culture of flexibility, developing better teamwork and planning on all levels, and mass customization.
This study attempts a new conceptualization of communication "sources" by proposing a typology of sources that would apply not only to traditional media but also to new online media. Ontological rationale for the distinctions in the typology is supplemented by psychological evidence via an experiment that investigated the effects of different types of source attributions upon receivers' perception of online news content. Participants (N = 48) in a 4-condition, between-participants experiment read 6 identical news stories each through an online service. Participants were told that the stories were selected by 1 of 4 sources: news editors, the computer terminal on which they were accessing the stories, other audience members (or users) of the online news service, or (using a pseudo-selection task) the individual user (self). After reading each online news story, all participants filled out a paper-and-pencil questionnaire indicating their perceptions of the story they had just read. In confirmation of the distinctions made in the typology, attribution of identical content to 4 different types of online sources was associated with significant variation in news story perception. Theoretical implications of the results as well as the typology are discussed.
As online publications increasingly serve as professional entry points into journalism, online journalists are being trained in a professional environment markedly different from traditional publications. Through in-depth interviews with online journalists, this study investigates the professional identities of this new cohort of media workers. We find they respect some established norms but participate in a mutual shaping of the processes of creating news as new technologies are adapted into existing newsroom practices and environments. They are also forming new norms, emphasizing transparency, individualism and risk taking. Overall, a “new normal” appears to be coalescing.
This article explores perceptions of news credibility for television, newspapers, and online news. A survey was administered to a randomly selected sample of residents in Austin, Texas, to assess people's attitudes toward these 3 media channels. Contingent factors that might influence news credibility perceptions, such as media use and interpersonal discussion of news, were incorporated into the analysis. Findings suggest that people are generally skeptical of news emanating from all 3 media channels but do rate newspapers with the highest credibility, followed by online news and television news, respectively. Furthermore, opinions about news credibility seem to be correlated across media outlets. The data also show a moderate negative linkage between interpersonal discussion of news and perceptions of media credibility for television news but not for newspapers. When controlling for basic demographics, a positive correlation was found between interpersonal communication and online news credibility. Finally, a marginal association was noted between media use and public perceptions of credibility across all 3 media channels.
This study aimed at examining whether exposure to the positive/negative commentaries on the win/loss of readers’ favorite team would activate their dispositions toward the favorite team and whether such disposition effects would lead reader’s perceptions of online sport commentary. A two (the win of favorite team versus the loss of favorite team) by two (the positive commentary versus the negative commentary) within-subjects repeated measures experiment examined readers’ perceptions in terms of quality, credibility, representativeness. Results showed that the positive/negative commentaries on readers’ favorite team would be a stronger factor influencing readers’ quality and credibility perceptions than the win/loss of readers’ favorite team. However, the positive/negative commentaries and the win/loss of the favorite team both did not lead readers’ representativeness perceptions.
This study investigates the relationship between types of news events and daily traffic at the New York Times on the Web. CNN and ABC newscasts were content analyzed to represent each day's news coverage and compared with Web site usage data made available by the Times. The results indicate that level of disruptiveness and episodicity were positively correlated with online traffic. Also, several news topics—international politics, education, and science and technology—were positively correlated with online news usage. During the period examined, dominated by the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, domestic politics, weather, and accident and disaster news were negatively correlated with Web site usage.
This study investigates the factor structure underlying receivers' perceptions of news content. Exploratory analyses of readers' ratings of a wide variety of news stories reveals that receivers implicitly use at least four key variables in their perception of printed and online news stimuli. This article explicates the four criteria used by news receivers—Credibility, Liking, Quality, and Representativeness—and offers measures for future empirical research on news perception.
The people who claim membership in a profession and delineate its attributes do so at least in part to justify inequality of status, as well as to limit and control access to that status. The key role of the professional can be fulfilled only by people with particular training, skills and judgement, and it is crucial that the distinction between practitioner and layperson be clearly recognized by all parties. This article suggests that online news workers fundamentally challenge the already-disputed concept of journalists as professionals. It identifies and explores key aspects of that challenge across the cognitive, normative and evaluative dimensions of the sociological construct of professionalism, with the goal of laying the groundwork for empirical investigation into the issues raised.
People increasingly rely on Internet and web-based information despite evidence that it is potentially inaccurate and biased. Therefore, this study sought to assess people's perceptions of the credibility of various categories of Internet information compared to similar information provided by other media. The 1,041 respondents also were asked about whether they verified Internet information. Overall, respondents reported they considered Internet information to be as credible as that obtained from television, radio, and magazines, but not as credible as newspaper information. Credibility among the types of information sought, such as news and entertainment, varied across media channels. Respondents said they rarely verified web-based information, although this too varied by the type of information sought. Levels of experience and how respondents perceived the credibility of information were related to whether they verified information. This study explores the social relevance of the findings and discusses them in terms of theoretical knowledge of advanced communication technologies.
Data from 574 participants were used to assess perceptions of message, site, and sponsor credibility across four genres of websites; to explore the extent and effects of verifying web-based information; and to measure the relative influence of sponsor familiarity and site attributes on perceived credibility.The results show that perceptions of credibility differed, such that news organization websites were rated highest and personal websites lowest, in terms of message, sponsor, and overall site credibility, with e-commerce and special interest sites rated between these, for the most part.The results also indicated that credibility assessments appear to be primarily due to website attributes (e.g. design features, depth of content, site complexity) rather than to familiarity with website sponsors. Finally, there was a negative relationship between self-reported and observed information verification behavior and a positive relationship between self-reported verification and internet/web experience.
The findings are used to inform the theoretical development of perceived web credibility.
In this study 2,684 people evaluated the credibility of two live Web sites on a similar topic (such as health sites). We gathered the comments people wrote about each siteís credibility and analyzed the comments to find out what features of a Web site get noticed when people evaluate credibility. We found that the ìdesign lookî of the site was mentioned most frequently, being present in 46.1% of the comments. Next most common were comments about information structure and information focus. In this paper we share sample participant comments in the top 18 areas that people noticed when evaluating Web site credibility. We discuss reasons for the prominence of design look, point out how future studies can build on what we have learned in this new line of research, and outline six design implications for human-computer interaction professionals.
A between-groups 3 × 3 factorial experiment (N=516) tests effects of message type and source reputation on judgments of news believability, judgments conceptualized as source credibility (judgments about the source), and assessments of apparent reality (judgments about the message content). Three indices combining measures of source credibility and message apparent reality emerge from a factor analysis, comprising judgments of (1) source truthfulness and message accuracy, (2) source expertise and message representativeness, and (3) source bias and personal perspective. The results show that a more innocuous message results in more positive judgments of believability, but the reputation of the source has no direct effect on believability judgments, nor does it interact with message type. It is concluded that at least some publics base judgments of news believability more on judgments of the apparent reality of message content rather than on the reputation of the media source.
This study attempts a new conceptualization of communication ‘sources’ by proposing a typology of sources that would apply not only to traditional media but also to new online media. Ontological rationale for the distinctions in the typology is supplemented by psychological evidence via an experiment that investigated the effects of different types of source attributions upon receivers' perception of online news content. Participants (N=48) in a 4-condition, between-participants experiment read 6 identical news stories each through an online service. Participants were told that the stories were selected by 1 of 4 sources: news editors, the computer terminal on which they were accessing the stories, other audience members (or users) of the online news service, or (using a pseudo-selection task) the individual user (self). After reading each online news story, all participants filled out a paper-and-pencil questionnaire indicating their perceptions of the story they had just read. In confirmation of the distinctions made in the typology, attribution of identical content to 4 different types of online sources was associated with significant variation in news story perception. Theoretical implications of the results as well as the typology are discussed.
This study investigates factors influencing Internet users’ perceived credibility of news-related blogs in Taiwan. First, this paper identifies Taiwanese Internet users’ beliefs about news-related blog credibility. Secondly, it examines whether these belief factors can predict their perceived credibility of news-related blogs. Thirdly, it explores whether Internet users’ individual characteristics, Internet use motivations, Internet use behavior, and innovative characteristics can predict their perceived credibility of news-related blogs.Four belief factors about news-related blog credibility were extracted from 13-item five-point Likert questions and account for 57.565% of the variance. Two out of four belief factors contributed significantly to the prediction of Taiwanese Internet users’ perceived credibility of news-related blogs. These predictor factors altogether explained 18.3% of the variance in Internet users’ perceived credibility of news-related blogs.To determine if belief factors were still predictive of Taiwanese Internet users’ perceived credibility of news-related blogs after controlling demographic, Internet use behavior, Internet use motivations, and users’ innovative characteristics, several hierarchical regression analyses were undertaken. The full model explained 29.1% of total variance in Taiwanese Internet users’ perceived credibility of news-related blogs. After controlling all possible confounding variables, the predictive impacts of credibility factors on Taiwanese Internet users’ perceived credibility of news-related blogs remained powerful and stable.
This field experiment examined the effects of the sex of Web site authors and Web site visitors on perceptions of the credibility of personal Web pages. Participants viewed male and female Web pages created for this study, patterned after personal pages on the Web, and assessed sponsor, message, and Web site credibility. Results revealed that men rated both message credibility and site credibility significantly higher than did women and that there was a significant interaction effect whereby opposite-sex credibility evaluations were higher than same-sex credibility evaluations. Overall, this study reveals that sex differences are meaningful in cyberspace but that the reduced cues environment challenges researchers to locate precisely what factors underlie these differences. Potential explanations include the vestiges of a sex-imbalanced Internet culture, sex similarity, sex and message congruence, and social desirability.
Developing trust between suppliers and consumers is critical for the continued growth of Internet commerce. This article presents an empirical investigation into how firms promote trust by exploring the use and prominence of Trusted Third Parties (TTPs) and privacy statements. The Web sites of 102 publicly held firms with predominantly Internet based businesses were examined for their use of TTPs and privacy statements, the number of links, currency of the Web site, length of time the Web site had been operating, traffic, and financial performance. Surprisingly, only 17 of the firms utilized trusted third parties and only 45 had privacy statements. The article presents a methodology for the analysis of four propositions that explore the relationship of embeddedness and a firm's length of time online to the use and prominence of TTPs and privacy statements. The exploratory data in this article clearly supports the proposition that the use of TTPs and privacy statements increase with the embeddedness of the Web site. This article then discusses the potential reasons for this finding including how TTPs strategically solicit firms and why trusted firms may be more likely to be embedded. The remaining three propositions show mixed results but provide insight into the strategic use of TTPs and privacy statements. One key insight is that TTPs and privacy statements are actually used quite differently by firms to promote trust in Internet commerce.
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