Social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become a key part of online users’ news diets. On social network sites, even individuals who are not motivated to seek out news are believed to be exposed to news posts due to the sharing activities of friends or inadvertently witnessing discussions about current events. Research on this incidental news exposure (INE) has largely focused on its potential for positive effects on information gain or political participation, while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the inequalities in news exposure and engagement. This article aims to address this issue by proposing and explicating the existence of a ‘Matthew Effect’ in social media news use. It is argued that INE research needs to consider the unequal chances to both be exposed to news on social network sites and to actually engage (i.e. read and interact) with ‘accidentally’ encountered news content.
AhmadiMWohnDY (2018) The antecedents of incidental news exposure on social media. Social Media + Society4(2): 1–8.
2.
AielloLMBarratASchifanellaR, et al. (2012) Friendship prediction and homophily in social media. ACM Transactions on the Web6(2): 9:1–9:33.
3.
AndreouAVenkatadriGGogaO, et al. (2018) Investigating ad transparency mechanisms in social media: A case study of Facebook’s explanations. In: Proceedings 2018 network and distributed system security symposium, San Diego, CA, 18–21 February.
4.
AnspachNM (2017) The new personal influence: How our Facebook friends influence the news we read. Political Communication37(4): 590–606.
5.
AnspachNMJenningsJTArceneauxK (2019) A little bit of knowledge: Facebook’s News Feed and self-perceptions of knowledge. Research & Politics6(1): 1–9.
6.
ArendtFNorthupTCamajL (2019) Selective exposure and news media brands: Implicit and explicit attitudes as predictors of news choice. Media Psychology22: 526–543.
7.
BakshyEMessingSAdamicLA (2015) Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science348(6239): 1130–1132.
8.
BeamMAHmielowskiJDHutchensMJ (2018) Democratic digital inequalities: Threat and opportunity in online citizenship from motivation and ability. American Behavioral Scientist62(8): 1079–1096.
9.
BergströmABelfrageMJ (2018) News in social media: Incidental consumption and the role of opinion leaders. Digital Journalism6(5): 583–598.
10.
BoczkowskiPJMitchelsteinEMatassiM (2018) ‘News comes across when I’m in a moment of leisure’: Understanding the practices of incidental news consumption on social media. New Media & Society20(10): 3523–3539.
11.
BodeL (2016) Political news in the news feed: Learning politics from social media. Mass Communication and Society19(1): 24–48.
12.
BoehmerJTandocECJr (2015) Why we retweet: Factors influencing intentions to share sport news on Twitter. International Journal of Sport Communication8(2): 212–232.
13.
BozdagE (2013) Bias in algorithmic filtering and personalization. Ethics and Information Technology15(3): 209–227.
14.
CacciatoreMAYeoSKScheufeleDA, et al. (2018) Is Facebook making us dumber? Exploring social media use as a predictor of political knowledge. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly95(2): 404–424.
15.
CacioppoJTPettyRE (1982) The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology42(1): 116–131.
16.
CacioppoJTPettyREFeinsteinJA, et al. (1996) Dispositional differences in cognitive motivation: The life and times of individuals varying in need for cognition. Psychological Bulletin119(2): 197–253.
17.
CorniaASehlALevyDAL, et al. (2018) Private Sector News, Social Media Distribution, and Algorithm Change. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
18.
DavidCCPascualMRSSTorresMES (2019) Reliance on Facebook for news and its influence on political engagement. PLOS ONE14(3): e0212263.
19.
DeVitoMA (2017) From editors to algorithms. A values-based approach to understanding story selection in the Facebook news feed. Digital Journalism5(6): 753–773.
20.
DiPreteTAEirichGM (2006) Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: A review of theoretical and empirical developments. Annual Review of Sociology32(1): 271–297.
21.
DylkoIB (2016) How technology encourages political selective exposure: Customizability technology and political selective exposure. Communication Theory26(4): 389–409.
22.
EdgerlyS (2017) Seeking out and avoiding the news media: Young adults’ proposed strategies for obtaining current events information. Mass Communication and Society20(3): 358–377.
23.
EdgerlySVragaEK (2019) News, entertainment, or both? Exploring audience perceptions of media genre in a hybrid media environment. Journalism20(6): 807–826.
24.
EdgerlySVragaEKBodeL, et al. (2018) New media, new relationship to participation? A closer look at youth news repertoires and political participation. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly95(1): 192–212.
FletcherRNielsenRK (2018) Are people incidentally exposed to news on social media? A comparative analysis. New Media & Society20(7): 2450–2468.
27.
Gil de ZúñigaHWeeksBArdèvol-AbreuA (2017) Effects of the news-finds-me perception in communication: Social media use implications for news seeking and learning about politics. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication22(3): 105–123.
28.
HargittaiE (2003) The digital divide and what to do about it. In: JonesDC (ed.) New Economy Handbook. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 822–841.
29.
HargittaiEHsiehYP (2013) Digital inequality. In: DuttonWH (ed.) The Oxford Handbook for Internet Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 129–150.
30.
HenrichJHeineSJNorenzayanA (2010) Beyond WEIRD: Towards a broad-based behavioral science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences33(2–3): 111–135.
31.
HermidaA (2016) Social media and the news. In: WitschgeTAndersonCWDomingoD, et al (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Digital Journalism. London: SAGE, pp. 81–94.
32.
HmielowskiJDHolbertRLLeeJ (2011) Predicting the consumption of political TV satire: Affinity for political humor, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. Communication Monographs78(1): 96–114.
33.
KaiserJKellerTRKleinen-von KönigslöwK (2018) Incidental news exposure on Facebook as a social experience: The influence of recommender and media cues on news selection. Communication Research. Epub ahead or print 23 October 2018. DOI: 10.1177/0093650218803529.
34.
KarnowskiVKümpelASLeonhardL, et al. (2017) From incidental news exposure to news engagement. How perceptions of the news post and news usage patterns influence engagement with news articles encountered on Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior76: 42–50.
35.
KimYChenH-TGildeZúñigaH (2013) Stumbling upon news on the internet: Effects of incidental news exposure and relative entertainment use on political engagement. Computers in Human Behavior29: 2607–2614.
36.
KitchinR (2017) Thinking critically about and researching algorithms. Information, Communication & Society20(1): 14–29.
37.
KümpelAS (2019a) Getting tagged, getting involved with news? A mixed-methods investigation of the effects and motives of news-related tagging activities on social network sites. Journal of Communication69(4): 373–395.
38.
KümpelAS (2019b) The issue takes it all? Incidental news exposure and news engagement on Facebook. Digital Journalism7(2): 165–186.
39.
LeeAMChyiHI (2014) When newsworthy is not noteworthy. Examining the value of news from the audience’s perspective. Journalism Studies15(6): 807–820.
40.
LeeJKKimE (2017) Incidental exposure to news: Predictors in the social media setting and effects on information gain online. Computers in Human Behavior75: 1008–1015.
41.
LönnqvistJ-EItkonenJVA (2016) Homogeneity of personal values and personality traits in Facebook social networks. Journal of Research in Personality60: 24–35.
42.
McCombsMPoindexterP (1983) The duty to keep informed: News exposure and civic obligation. Journal of Communication33(2): 88–96.
43.
MeddersRBMetzgerMJ (2018) The role of news brands and leads in exposure to political information on the Internet. Digital Journalism6(5): 599–618.
44.
MertonRK (1968) The Matthew effect in science. Science159(3810): 56–63.
45.
MessingSWestwoodSJ (2013) Friends that matter: How social influence affects selection in social media. Unpublished Manuscript, Stanford University, CA.
46.
MingoIBraccialeR (2018) The Matthew Effect in the Italian digital context: The progressive marginalisation of the ‘poor’. Social Indicators Research135(2): 629–659.
47.
MöllerJvan de VeldeRNMertenL, et al. (2019) Explaining online news engagement based on browsing behavior: Creatures of habit?Social Science Computer Review. Epub ahead of print 10 February. DOI: 10.1177/0894439319828012.
48.
MüllerPSchneidersPSchäferS (2016) Appetizer or main dish? Explaining the use of Facebook news posts as a substitute for other news sources. Computers in Human Behavior65: 431–441.
49.
MummoloJ (2016) News from the other side: How topic relevance limits the prevalence of partisan selective exposure. The Journal of Politics78(3): 763–773.
50.
NewmanNFletcherRKalogeropoulosA, et al. (2018) Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2018. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
51.
NorrisP (2001) Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. New York: Cambridge University Press.
52.
Oeldorf-HirschA (2018) The role of engagement in learning from active and incidental news exposure on social media. Mass Communication and Society21(2): 225–247.
53.
PowersE (2017) My news feed is filtered? Awareness of news personalization among college students. Digital Journalism5(10): 1315–1335.
54.
PriorM (2007) Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections. New York: Cambridge University Press.
55.
PriorM (2013) Media and political polarization. Annual Review of Political Science16(1): 101–127.
56.
RigneyD (2010) The Matthew Effect: How Advantage Begets Further Advantage. New York: Columbia University Press. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/rign14948 (accessed 12 February 2019).
57.
SchmidtJ-HMertenLHasebrinkU, et al. (2019) How do intermediaries shape news-related media repertoires and practices? Findings from a qualitative study. International Journal of Communication13: 853–873.
58.
ShehataA (2016) News habits among adolescents: The influence of family communication on adolescents’ news media use – Evidence from a three-wave panel study. Mass Communication and Society19(6): 758–781.
59.
SongHJungJKimY (2017) Perceived news overload and its cognitive and attitudinal consequences for news usage in South Korea. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly94(4): 1172–1190.
60.
StrömbäckJDjerf-PierreMShehataA (2013) The dynamics of political interest and news media consumption: A longitudinal perspective. International Journal of Public Opinion Research25(4): 414–435.
61.
TewksburyDWeaverAJMaddexBD (2001) Accidentally informed: Incidental news exposure on the world wide web. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly78(3): 533–554.
62.
ThorsonK (2018) How social inequalities shape incidental exposure to news and politics among young adults. Presented at the 68th Annual Conference of the ICA, Prague, 24–28 May.
ThorsonKWellsC (2016) Curated flows: A framework for mapping media exposure in the digital age. Communication Theory26(3): 309–328.
65.
ThorsonKXuYEdgerlyS (2018) Political inequalities start at home: Parents, children, and the socialization of civic infrastructure online. Political Communication35(2): 178–195.
66.
TichenorPJDonohueGAOlienCN (1970) Mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge. Public Opinion Quarterly34(2): 159–170.
67.
TsfatiYCappellaJN (2005) Why do people watch news they do not trust? The need for cognition as a moderator in the association between news media skepticism and exposure. Media Psychology7(3): 251–271.
68.
TurcotteJYorkCIrvingJ, et al. (2015) News recommendations from social media opinion leaders: Effects on media trust and information seeking. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication20(5): 520–535.
69.
TutenTLBosnjakM (2001) Understanding differences in web usage: The role of need for cognition and the five factor model of personality. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal29(4): 391–398.
70.
ValerianiAVaccariC (2016) Accidental exposure to politics on social media as online participation equalizer in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. New Media & Society18(9): 1857–1874.
71.
Van CauwenbergeAd’HaenensLBeentjesH (2013) Young people’s news orientations and uses of traditional and new media for news. Communications38(4): 367–388.
72.
van DeursenAJAMHelsperEJ (2015) The third-level digital divide: Who benefits most from being online? In: RobinsonLCottenSRSchulzJ, et al. (eds) Studies in Media and Communications. Bingley: Emerald Group, pp. 29–52.
73.
van DeursenAJAMvan DijkJA (2014) The digital divide shifts to differences in usage. New Media & Society16(3): 507–526.
74.
WeeksBELaneDSPottsL, et al. (2019) Can incidental exposure to news online close the political knowledge gap? Evidence from two panel studies in two U.S.elections. Presented at the 69th annual conference of the ICA, Washington, DC, 24–28 May.
75.
WeiK-KTeoH-HChanHC, et al. (2011) Conceptualizing and testing a social cognitive model of the digital divide. Information Systems Research22(1): 170–187.
76.
WolfsfeldGYarchiMSamuel-AzranT (2016) Political information repertoires and political participation. New Media & Society18(9): 2096–2115.
77.
WoodstockL (2014) The news-democracy narrative and the unexpected benefits of limited news consumption: The case of news resisters. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism15(7): 834–849.
78.
YoungDGTisingerRM (2006) Dispelling late-night myths: News consumption among late-night comedy viewers and the predictors of exposure to various late-night shows. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics11(3): 113–134.
