News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption

Guided by the niche theory and literature on news grazing, this study sought to understand the phenomenon of news grazing, a trend towards consuming more concise pieces of news spontaneously. Based on in-depth interviews with 29 participants who engage in news grazing in Singapore, this study identi...

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Main Authors: Hong, Li Xuan, Pong, Brenda Xiang Yuan, Lye, Rachelle Wan Xin, Sng, Trisha Ngiag Gya
Other Authors: Chen Lou
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137481
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1374812020-03-30T06:48:16Z News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption Hong, Li Xuan Pong, Brenda Xiang Yuan Lye, Rachelle Wan Xin Sng, Trisha Ngiag Gya Chen Lou Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information chenlou@ntu.edu.sg Social sciences::Communication::Audience research Social sciences::Communication::Communication theories and models Guided by the niche theory and literature on news grazing, this study sought to understand the phenomenon of news grazing, a trend towards consuming more concise pieces of news spontaneously. Based on in-depth interviews with 29 participants who engage in news grazing in Singapore, this study identified the motivations for news grazing and technical affordances that facilitate news grazing, in an era of information overload. This study found that users are motivated by the efficiency of fulfilling their informational and social needs. As such, we defined news grazing as the act of skimming through bite-sized news intermittently, or at regular interstices of time, in a summarised format, underpinned by the prioritisation of efficiency. Using Telegram — the most commonly used platform for news grazing among the interviewees — as an example, the news grazing behaviour is facilitated by the technical affordances of customisability, accessibility, aesthetics and simultaneity of functions. The findings advanced literature on news grazing and its related technical affordances, as well as the niche theory. Bachelor of Communication Studies 2020-03-30T06:48:16Z 2020-03-30T06:48:16Z 2020 Final Year Project (FYP) https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137481 en SCI/19/024 application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Communication::Audience research
Social sciences::Communication::Communication theories and models
spellingShingle Social sciences::Communication::Audience research
Social sciences::Communication::Communication theories and models
Hong, Li Xuan
Pong, Brenda Xiang Yuan
Lye, Rachelle Wan Xin
Sng, Trisha Ngiag Gya
News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
description Guided by the niche theory and literature on news grazing, this study sought to understand the phenomenon of news grazing, a trend towards consuming more concise pieces of news spontaneously. Based on in-depth interviews with 29 participants who engage in news grazing in Singapore, this study identified the motivations for news grazing and technical affordances that facilitate news grazing, in an era of information overload. This study found that users are motivated by the efficiency of fulfilling their informational and social needs. As such, we defined news grazing as the act of skimming through bite-sized news intermittently, or at regular interstices of time, in a summarised format, underpinned by the prioritisation of efficiency. Using Telegram — the most commonly used platform for news grazing among the interviewees — as an example, the news grazing behaviour is facilitated by the technical affordances of customisability, accessibility, aesthetics and simultaneity of functions. The findings advanced literature on news grazing and its related technical affordances, as well as the niche theory.
author2 Chen Lou
author_facet Chen Lou
Hong, Li Xuan
Pong, Brenda Xiang Yuan
Lye, Rachelle Wan Xin
Sng, Trisha Ngiag Gya
format Final Year Project
author Hong, Li Xuan
Pong, Brenda Xiang Yuan
Lye, Rachelle Wan Xin
Sng, Trisha Ngiag Gya
author_sort Hong, Li Xuan
title News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
title_short News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
title_full News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
title_fullStr News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
title_full_unstemmed News grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
title_sort news grazing in the era of information overload : how and why users utilise semi-social chat apps for news consumption
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2020
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137481
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