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`Source Blindness’ in Digital News: Predictors of Processing Source Cues in Social Media

Pearson, George David Hooke
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9530-7851
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563544987037169

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
This dissertation examines how individuals investigate, recall, and evaluate sources of news in online environments, especially social media, through the use of an experiment and survey. A phenomenon where individuals fail to consider and process source information online, labeled `source blindness’, was hypothesized to be the result of automatic processing, where individuals use reduced resources to process content. Two features of social media sites were proposed to lead to automatic processing, and subsequently source blindness. The investigated features were the high volume of content available online and `information context collapse’ – where social media collapses distinctions between topics, displaying news alongside personal updates and entertainment. These were tested in a 2 (low vs. high volume) x 2 (high vs. low information context collapse) between-subjects experiment. Results showed that while high volume of content was insignificant, information context collapse did have an indirect effort on source blindness via automatic processing. Additionally, it was expected that repeated occurrences of this behavior would lead to a wider disinterest in assessing source information. A national survey found evidence of this attitude and investigated its correlation with media behaviors and attitudes towards digital media. Implications for this research are discussed.
Gerald Kosicki (Advisor)
Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick (Committee Member)
Kelly Garrett (Committee Member)
208 p.
Communication
Journalism; Sources; Political communication; Credibility; Communication technology; Digital media

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pearson, G. D. H. (2019). `Source Blindness’ in Digital News: Predictors of Processing Source Cues in Social Media [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563544987037169

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pearson, George. `Source Blindness’ in Digital News: Predictors of Processing Source Cues in Social Media . 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563544987037169.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pearson, George. "`Source Blindness’ in Digital News: Predictors of Processing Source Cues in Social Media ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563544987037169

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1563544987037169
595
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.