Audience as medium : motivations and emotions in news sharing

Abstract

Although social media is still not the mainstream option to disseminate news for the population as a whole, social media usage for this purpose increases every year. In particular, it has become widespread amongst young people and its relevance in the future is expected to be of paramount importance. This practice alters the way news is distributed and consumed, and it directly affects the media’s business model. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial to ensure the media’s financial feasibility. This article utilizes the Uses and Gratifications Theory to present what we know so far about the motivations behind why users share news on social media, with special reference to the role of emotion in the process.