The Role of Communal Ratings as Cues in Participation in Political User-generated News Websites

Authors

  • Alcides Velásquez Author Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
  • Cliff Lampe Author School of Information, University of Michigan

Keywords:

politics, journalism, Internet, news agency, audience measurement, cultural participation. (Source, UNESCO Thesaurus).

Abstract

DOI: 10.5294/pacla.2013.16.3.2

Citizen journalists can participate in political user-generated news websites in different ways, including providing content, discussing with other users, and rating the content posted on the site. Also, users of these types of sites form impressions of other users based on the information provided by different sources. The information supplied by rating systems, for example, constitutes a source of information that cues certain characteristics about others. However, user-generated news websites’ rating systems usually evaluate users’ participation without distinguishing between types of participa- tion. Taking into account the origin of the information carried by the cues and the communal dimension evaluated in the process of impression formation, this study examines how a set of different rating system design options might influence users’ impressions of the credibility of discussants, discussion informativeness, and willingness to contribute to discussions on political user-generated news websites. The results of this study partially support the idea that communal third-party information has more importance when impressions are formed in these online settings, although further research is needed to establish the connection between rating sys- tems and the communal characteristics of users. DOI: 10.5294/pacla.2013.16.3.2

 

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Author Biographies

Alcides Velásquez, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

PhD, Michigan State University. Profesor asociado del departamento de comunicacion y lenguaje de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Cliff Lampe, School of Information, University of Michigan

PhD, University of Michigan. Associate professor, school of information, University of Michigan

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Published

2013-09-11

How to Cite

Velásquez, A., & Lampe, C. (2013). The Role of Communal Ratings as Cues in Participation in Political User-generated News Websites. Palabra Clave, 16(3), 699–728. Retrieved from https://palabraclave.unisabana.edu.co/index.php/palabraclave/article/view/3331

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 3 (2013): Digital Communication

Section

Interventions

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