Tim Dwyer

This book explores the political economics and cultural politics of social media news sharing, investigating how it is changing journalism and the news media internationally. News sharing plays important economic and cultural roles in an attention economy, recommending the stories audiences find valuable, making them more visible, and promoting the digital platforms that are reshaping our media ecologies. But is news sharing a force for democracy, or a sign of journalism’s declining power to set news agendas? In Sharing News Online, Tim Dwyer and Fiona Martin analyse the growth of commendary culture and the business of social news, critique the rise of news analytics and dissect virality online. They reveal that surprisingly, we share political stories more highly than celebrity news, and they probe how deeply affect drives our sharing behaviour. In mapping the contours of a critical digital media phenomenon, this book makes essential reading for scholars, journalists and media executives.

This book explores the political economics and cultural politics of social media news sharing, investigating how it is changing journalism and the news media internationally. News sharing plays important economic and cultural roles in an attention economy, recommending the stories audiences find valuable, making them more visible, and promoting the digital platforms that are reshaping our media ecologies. But is news sharing a force for democracy, or a sign of journalism’s declining power to set news agendas? In Sharing News Online, Tim Dwyer and Fiona Martin analyse the growth of commendary culture and the business of social news, critique the rise of news analytics and dissect virality online. They reveal that surprisingly, we share political stories more highly than celebrity news, and they probe how deeply affect drives our sharing behaviour. In mapping the contours of a critical digital media phenomenon, this book makes essential reading for scholars, journalists and media executives.

A lot of personal data is being collected and stored as we use our media devices for business and pleasure in mobile and online spaces. This book helps us contemplate what a post-Facebook or post-Google world might look like, and how the tensions within capitalist information societies between corporations, government and citizens might play out.

Using a combination of case study materials, theoretical reflection and critical analysis this book explores four central issues for the study of new media and their impact on their user communities: 1 The impact of convergence on traditional media: explores the implications of media convergence for everyday media use and for the policy context. 2. Activism: using a series of case studies this section explores how user communities with special access needs are ensuring they are not denied access to the emerging new media world. 3. Access: provides an overview of areas where the introduction of new media has created debate about which social and cultural groups will benefit and how new media policy should be developed. 4. Participation: the emerging world of new media is inseparably linked to the commercialization of the internet and of mobile communications. This section examines the implications of the resulting commodification of information for the way audience formations are structured and operate.