But how does a news story, a photo or a video go viral and get many likes? What is the determining factor in a user's decision to "click" on one news story and not another or to share it with their online friends? And what does the user themselves think influenced them to "open" that particular news story?
A large online survey conducted by the Computer Science and Electronic Media Applications Labs of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki provides answers. The survey shows that the number of simultaneous users, the readers of an article or publication, the author or source of the text, as well as the number of shares, re-tweets and likes on a media website, become particularly important in what each user believes in relation to the influence they themselves, as well as their friends and social circle, are subject to.
The survey involved 9,150 internet users (5,845 women and 3,305 men, aged 10 to 79), who answered a questionnaire on issues of usability and functionality of websites, as well as their relevance to their personal preferences and choices. The media that collaborated in the survey were a large news portal, the website of an island newspaper, the website of a national television station, as well as a radio station in Attica, while the possibility of collecting responses through electronic mail (email) and the AUTH accounts on social media was utilized.
"It emerged that the numbers of simultaneous users, readers of an article/publication, as well as the number of shares, re-tweets/likes become particularly important in the formation of opinions and human-computer interaction," states the conclusions of the research, which began on 1/1/2014 and ended on 30/3/2014.
More specifically, from the analysis of the responses to the questionnaire, where users rated the factors that shape opinion on a scale of 1 to 5 (the higher the number, the greater the influence), the following emerged:
“Internet narcissism”
The many likes and shares on an online publication are very likely to attract even more readers. Users who participated in the survey rated the influence exerted by the number of shares/preferences at a score of 2.28 for themselves, a score of 2.74 for their friends and a score of 3.06 for their social circle.
“The power of the author”
The source and author of an article is arguably another criterion on the basis of which the user will choose to “click” on it or not. The participants in the survey rated the influence that this particular factor exerts on them with a score of 3.36 and respectively at a score of 3.2 for their friends and 3.34 for their social circle.
“How many people saw this post?”
Regarding the influence exerted by the number of users who read/viewed an article (online article), survey participants rated it 2.49 for themselves, 2.71 for their friends, and 3.1 for their social circle.
“Online Users”
A multiplying factor, in terms of the popularity of a publication, is the number of users who are simultaneously connected to the same website (online users). The participants in the survey stated that they are influenced by this parameter to a degree of 2.3, while they considered that their friends were influenced to a degree of 2.48 and their social circle to a degree of 2.91.
“Us and others”
One of the most interesting findings of the research is that the users surveyed believe that the “climate” created by social media influences their opinion of an article/online news outlet less than that of their friends and their social circle.
"The findings confirm the existence of the Web Third-Person Effect (WTPE), a phenomenon that refers to the tendency of individuals to assess that the messages transmitted by the media affect others more than themselves," explains Nikos Antonopoulos, PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Informatics Applications in Mass Media of the Department of Journalism and Mass Media, and a member of the AUTH team that conducted the research, to APE-MPE.
"This perception is about what we want to believe about ourselves, we want to see ourselves as superior to others, especially when it comes to conflicting messages, where we tend to separate ourselves from other subgroups," he adds.
Source: onliner.gr
