How social network sites and other online intermediaries increase exposure to news

Research has prominently assumed that social media and web portals that aggregate news restrict the diversity of content that users are exposed to by tailoring news diets toward the users' preferences. In our empirical test of this argument, we apply a random-effects within-between model to two large representative datasets of individual web browsing histories. This approach allows us to better encapsulate the effects of social media and other intermediaries on news exposure. We find strong evidence that intermediaries foster more varied online news diets. The results call into question fears about the vanishing potential for incidental news exposure in digital media environments

The overstated generational gap in online news use? A consolidated infrastructural perspective

Recent research by Taneja et al. suggested that digital infrastructures diminish the generational gap in news use by counteracting preference structures. We expand on this seminal work by arguing that an infrastructural perspective requires overcoming limitations of highly aggregated web tracking data used in prior research. We analyze the individual browsing histories of two representative samples of German Internet users collected in 2012 (N = 2970) and 2018 (N = 2045) and find robust evidence for a smaller generational gap in online news use than commonly assumed. While short news website visits mostly demonstrated infrastructural factors, longer news use episodes were shaped more by preferences. The infrastructural role of social media corresponded with reduced news avoidance and more varied news repertoires. Overall, the results suggest that research needs to reconsider commonly held premises regarding the uses of digital media in modern high-choice settings

International gaming: comparative survey research on digital gaming

Computer and console gaming has become a major entertainment sector around the globe. Still, the diffusion rates and the general acceptance of gaming vary between countries. There is some anecdotal evidence that there are countries and regions which are more open to technological advancement and gaming in particular. However, until now, researchers had to rely mostly on market research and industry information when trying to identify the state of gaming in their respective countries. In a unique effort to solve the problem of missing cross-national research, this panel brings together several international teams of researchers, presenting several large-scale surveys in a comparative manner

The reliability and temporal stability of self-reported media exposure - a meta-analysis

The measurement of media exposure is essential to not only traditional audience research, but also media effects research which relies on accurate estimates of media exposure. Even in the age of digital trace data and passive audience measurement, the workhorse of basically all communication research is self-report data. In this paper, I present a meta-analysis of the reliability and temporal stability of media exposure self-reports. Results show that media self-reported exposure was moderately reliable and highly stable. The estimated reliability was lower in youth samples, while rank-order stability was very similar for a adults and adolescents. Moderation analyses showed that exposure to specific outlets yielded more reliable information in adult samples, while media-specific differences in reliability were only found in youth samples

The reliability and temporal stability of self-reported media exposure - a meta-analysis

The measurement of media exposure is essential to not only traditional audience research, but also media effects research which relies on accurate estimates of media exposure. Even in the age of digital trace data and passive audience measurement, the workhorse of basically all communication research is self-report data. In this paper, I present a meta-analysis of the reliability and temporal stability of media exposure self-reports. Results show that media self-reported exposure was moderately reliable and highly stable. The estimated reliability was lower in youth samples, while rank-order stability was very similar for a adults and adolescents. Moderation analyses showed that exposure to specific outlets yielded more reliable information in adult samples, while media-specific differences in reliability were only found in youth samples