Appetizer or Main Dish? Explaining the Use of Facebook News Content as a Substitute for Other News Sources

• In Event: News and Social Media

Abstract

Social Networking Sites like Facebook are of growing importance as a source of news content, especially for younger people. Research suggests some users could use Facebook news content as a substitute for other news sources. With an online survey (n = 390), we investigated how substitutive Facebook use can be explained by the feeling of being informed through Facebook and by need for cognition (NfC). Results show that feeling well-informed is an important predictor of substitutive Facebook use. NfC moderates this relationship. High NfC reduces the use of Facebook as a substitute—but only for individuals who feel well-informed. Moreover, results leave room to speculate about an illusion of knowledge: The feeling of being informed through Facebook more strongly depends on the amount of news content within an individual’s Facebook feed than on the amount of news posts which have actually been read or clicked.

Authors

• Philipp Mueller, U of Mainz

• Pascal Schneiders, U of Mainz

• Svenja Schaefer, Johannes Gutenberg University