competition, complementarity or integration

Digital Journalism 04/2014; DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2014.895520

FOLLOW-UP COMMUNICATION IN THE BLOGOSPHERE A comparative study of bloggers’ linking to professional and participatory media Christian Nuernbergk

This study examines how bloggers link to and comment on news content and selected participatory sources. The extent of follow-up communication is explored through the analysis of the number of blog posts linking to topic-specific professional and citizen media content. In addition, the underlying network structure resulting from the bloggers’ linking behaviour as well as their interconnectedness is determined. Do bloggers refer to a broad range of viewpoints and do they evaluate and comment on linked material? It is contested whether actors participating in networked publics commonly match these standards. The underlying question is, whether these media-related contributions lead to an effective and collaborative form of filtering which may help to reduce fragmentation risks. Through a combined content and network analysis of 323 blogs, this study reveals that bloggers primarily give attention to a limited and less diverse selection of articles on a given topic basis. All blogs in the sample were investigated in 2007 and revisited in 2010. They show a link connection to at least one of 545 articles from a major professional and a citizen media website in Germany. The research design allows a complete comparison of the media coverage and their reactions within blog posts. KEYWORDS

blogs; follow-up communication; network analysis; participatory journalism

Introduction The Internet’s effect on the public sphere might be best described as an extended opportunity structure for lay participation. The “networked information economy” (Benkler, 2006) enables autonomous, decentralised, and cooperative forms of production and distribution of common goods like information, knowledge, and culture. The social web offers users especially convenient platforms for networking, conversation, and the organisation of communication-based exchange. Hyperlinks and recommendations in status updates, tweets, or postings create new reference structures which help to channel public attention. The ability to interconnect and to share information on the social web is also expanding the field of follow-up communication and consequently it gains public visibility and social relevance. Because of an increased flexibility in communication roles, the former necessity to change media channels for feedback, e. g. by writing a letter to the editor after newspaper use, is going to diminish. Blog posts and other social media postings, along with user contributions in discussion groups or in have-your-say-sections of news websites, may all include such open forms of follow-up communication. Generally, the users’ behaviour in the ascending social media tends to further integrate and reflect different social situations in life. Thus, the amount of shared experience is increasing along


with role flexibility which leads to a less segregated structure of public communication and collapsed contexts (Meyrowitz 1994; boyd 2008). These changes in the media environment also have implications for the theoretical conceptualisation of follow-up communication. From an empirical viewpoint it is unclear what users actively contribute and what level of openness, content diversity, and quality is reached. Furthermore, the underlying network structure of public follow-up communication on the Internet needs to be explored. In a networked public, based on hyperlinks and other forms of dynamic social navigation, attention and selection patterns are of particular interest. As Nahon (2011) pointed out, there might be concentration processes and the emergence of elite users in networked publics, but such elites remain transient and rely on user participation which actively sustains their position. Therefore, the following study focuses on follow-up communication in the blogosphere. It will explore if and how bloggers contribute to a network of public follow-up communication and in which way this is based on cooperative forms of information filtering.

Literature Overview For the analysis of follow-up communication as a phenomenon in social media, the ability of news items being discussed online as well as user’s navigational functions and contributions in this communication process, are central. According to Benkler, patterns of cooperative filtering of information and the transmission of views constitute important pillars for the networked public sphere which is widely clustered around “topical, organisational, or other common features” (Benkler 2006, 253). Benkler describes a specific network topology which emerges through decentralised hyperlink references in a dynamic process based on user contributions. The networked public sphere grounded on this topology neither leads to “unusable cacophony” nor to a “highly concentrated model” (ibid.) but may offer an ordered system of filtering, intake, and synthesis. Therefore, widely distributed capabilities to publish, link, and advise others about what to read and link form an important precondition. Benkler’s detailed assumptions bring follow-up communication into question: How do journalistic achievements and news information correspond with this form of peer-produced media in public discourses? User-based selection choices do not necessarily correlate with the frequency of professional media coverage or the media presence of a topic (Meraz 2009). Social media users advising others about what to follow themselves now fulfil an intermediary role by conveying between journalistic news providers and their own recipients. Acting as an intermediary does not mean that one’s follow-up communication has to be neutral. Even by link reference or simple mention of a specific media item, a simple selection choice is expressed. By pooling the single selections of all participating users, a collaborative filter in the networked public sphere emerges. A special feature of follow-up communication in networked publics is made up by their observability and also their replicability for others (boyd 2008). Therefore, this communication is not limited to immediate reactions and user comments and might also include or spread to following contacts. As a collaborative result, news information may be reinterpreted and contrasted with a broad range of views, ideas, and individual stories. It remains important to point out that there is no automatism at work. Multifaceted individual contributions may give room for social negotiations and help to maintain filter effectiveness. But, as Benkler (2006), Sunstein (2007), and Hindman (2009) insist, a substantial risk for this “self-government” lies either in fragmentation (if leading to group polarisation) or in an excessively centralized, less-flexible structure. Before


reviewing these restrictions in the subsequent section, an extended concept of follow-up communication on the Internet is presented. Definition of Public Follow-up Communication Former research describes follow-up communication as interpersonal communication which relies on mass media content, therefore making mass communication a primary subject in discussions (Sommer 2010). Follow-up communication in this sense can occur in public or in private and can be either based on face-to-face or technologically-based communication. Research on opinion leaders as well as on news diffusion are both grounded on such forms of follow-up communication (Weber and Ziegele 2013). On the Internet and under its specific media constraints, not only the content of follow-up communication relies on mass media content: more easily than previously, these conversations can be followed providing the opportunity of becoming publicly mediated. By public distribution and sharing they could reach a growing networked audience. An extended definition of public follow-up communication may also refer to communicative feedback triggered by statements in professional or participatory media. Feedback takes the form of public comments or references and can occur immediately after release or deferred (Nuernbergk 2013, 209). A special feature of follow-up communication on the Internet lies in the opportunity to mark references to foregoing statements from other contributors via hyperlinks. Along with other referral forms in social network platforms, such references can be systematically monitored by search engines and aggregators (Thelwall and Hasler 2007; Lerman and Hogg 2010). In general, a definition of follow-up communication may be examined concerning five analytical dimensions (Weber and Ziegele 2013): (1) reference recognisability, (2) area of applicability and temporal context, (3) timing of reference, (4) (non)-institutionalisation as well as (5) process, interactivity, and subject of follow-up communication. The presented definition of public follow-up communication does not exclude institutional forms, e. g. reactions by professional journalists with reference to a foregoing piece or statement. Likewise, social interactivity is not mandatory in this conceptualisation of public follow-up communication: In fact, a reaction on the Internet via contributing to a user-comments board at a news website can occur in isolation receiving no feedback from others. However, such reactive references would also be visible to readers as well as they could influence the visibility of an article. For instance, external reactions by several bloggers which comment on an article but not on each other will still have an effect on the searchability of this piece. These public forms of follow-up communications mark real innovations. In contrast, private chats or inaccessible forms of communicative exchange on media content may correspond more with traditional forms of interpersonal communication, like private talks among friends in a bar or with colleagues at work. While analysing the emerging structures of networked publics, it makes sense to favour an extended concept of follow-up communication which also incorporates decentralised, open, and accessible reactions existing beside the classical forms of interpersonal communication. As a structural part of digital public communication the discursive quality of follow-up communication should be taken into question. Likewise, their function in networked public opinion processes should be examined. In general terms follow-up communication in networked publics can be considered as a complementary relation among professional and citizen media: Users attach to particular viewpoints and discuss covered topics. Thus, they serve as an echo chamber


and may “amplify the ‘conversations’ among journalists” (Reese et al. 2007, 237). Vice versa, journalists can interact with users, observe comments about their articles, and may use social media for investigative purposes or to gain ideas for topical ideas (Neuberger and Nuernbergk, 2010). Texts with references to given stories or statements could add information and forms of reinterpretation. Beside neutral, non-commented references evaluative referalls might also attack the source or might be supportive (Reese et al. 2007). Survey research on bloggers shows that providing an alternative perspective to the mainstream media could be considered as an important motive for their acitivity (Ekdale et al. 2010). However, to what extent such critical reinterpreations receive public resonance themselves by becoming part of a networked conversation on the web has not yet been researched systematically. Openness and Flexibility of Follow-up Communication Structures How likely is it that open exchange finds a way into the process of follow-up communication? What indications for the fragmentation thesis can be derived from such networked publics meaning that clusters of users and websites miss a shared public conversation? Or is the attention in these networks excessively concentrated on few participants and information providers? Previous research indicates that these questions should be assessed carefully. A study looking at the reception aspects and comparing agenda-setting effects among consumers of different media in the USA found little evidence for increasingly fragmented publics (Coleman and McCombs 2007). Studies on political bloggers’ use of hyperlinks in the USA, as well as in Germany, show some tendency for linking to those who share a blogger’s ideological stance (Hargittai, Gallo, and Kane 2008). Nevertheless, there is no dominant pattern indicating self-insulation in either blog samples. Regarding the prevalence of concentration patterns, research found some evidence: for instance, usage statistics show that attention to news websites is highly concentrated in some top sites in Germany (BITKOM, 2012). Furthermore, a strong concentration to a few well-established outlets was found in studies on hyperlink networks (Hindman 2009). Other researchers like Nahon (2011) and Caldas et al. (2008) remain rather sceptical about this and mention the probability of possible dynamics dependent on specific topics. So far, empirical work is focused mainly on the distribution levels in general hyperlink networks. Until now, conversations in networked publics about media content have not been further examined for the prevalence of concentration patterns. Related research indeed shows that social media are an important space for sharing and discussing links to news stories (Olmstead, Mitchell, and Rosenstiel 2011). Xenos (2008) investigated blog postings featuring hyperlinks to newspaper stories on a specific topic, but he neglected to explore the contributors’ network in detail. Hence, to examine the filter mechanisms in the networked public sphere described by Benkler (2006), further research would be desirable. Regarding the content diversity of networked publics in the blogosphere, a research note by Haas (2005) summarised that blogs serve to reproduce the narrow range of mainstream media through linking practices and covering the same topics. Focusing on follow-up communication, additional research is needed to assess opinion diversity and the prevalence of alternative perspectives. Based on the research strands outlined in this overview the present study will address two research questions:


RQ1: What kind of network structure describes the follow-up communication induced by professional and participatory news media in the blogosphere? RQ2: What kind of bloggers select, comment and link to professional and participatory content?

Methods The quality and the network structure of follow-up communication in blogs were both analysed in a case study related to the media coverage of the G8-summit in Heiligendamm (Germany). This contested political occasion was one of the main media events in 2007. An increase of media-related participation was strongly expected. The media coverage and the related follow-up communication were examined through a comparative content analysis and network analysis. Relevant units of analysis in follow-up communication have been determined through a hybrid selection process: within our issue-centred selection (1) we focused on blog postings which referred to selected professional or participatory media (2). Thus, a media-centred approach was applied here as well. Following this selection design, two main “network generators” were determined: Spiegel Online, one of the leading professional news websites in Germany, and Indymedia Germany, an alternative citizen journalism project. Both websites could be considered as prominent exponents in their area. On this basis, blog postings linking to articles related to the G8-summit on both websites were identified through the blog search engine Technorati (for details see Nuernbergk [2013, 311-320]). Therefore, the open web archives of Spiegel Online and Indymedia were equally searched with the keyword “Heiligendamm”. Relevant results were limited to a specific timeframe which was marked by two weeks enclosing the summit (28 May 2007-10 June 2007). Overall, 546 articles were identified via archive search. In each case an article on both selected websites was accessible through an individual URL. Following this, a search request for all 546 URLs was submitted to the blog search engine Technorati. In a German keyword search as well as in a comparative blog search study by Thelwall and Hasler (2007) Technorati showed satisfying results. The entire result lists were requested and saved automatically by using the program Lexi URL 1.0.332. The crawling features of this program were also used to archive the ten first linked hits of each result list. Alongside with the search engine hits pointing to relevant blog posts all result lists also contained selected metadata like the full number of blogs linking to the requested article URL (counted “reactions”). All identified blog posts were checked for their issuerelated relevance. Finally 423 German-written blog posts remained in our data base. They were posted on 323 different blogs. All remaining blog posts and website articles from Spiegel Online und Indymedia were fully coded. The coding scheme contained several attribute variables and a few relational variables (cited actors, external link targets, and valuation of linked targets). After aggregating the gathered relational information on a blog or website level, networks on these dimensions were generated from the selected data. The general coding scheme analysed the data on different levels and attributes of each unit: (1) author and blog (2) grade of societal transparency: visibility of speakers, participants, and issues, (3) similarity of issue validation/issue salience: emphasis of issue aspects, valuation of specific issue aspects (e. g. protesters behaviour, police behaviour, summit results, security measures and costs), (4) networking behaviour: use of hyperlinks, references to other blogs, and (5) communication of dissent: alternative interpretations, media criticism.


Two undergraduate coders and the author conducted the content analysis of blog posts and website articles. Both coders trained with the researcher for several weeks. After formally testing 55 units for all 173 variables the pairwise inter coder reliability coefficients remained on an average level above 0.9 (Holsti’s formula, for detailed information see Nuernbergk [2013, 346-347]).

Findings Network Structure, Quantity and Main Topics of Follow-up Communication in Blogs Spiegel Online and Indymedia covered the G8-summit of Heiligendamm and the related protests with a diverse set of articles. But their contributions both disparately provoked follow-up communication in the blogosphere. On the professional media website Spiegel Online, around one quarter of all published articles (26 percent, n=187) obtained no resonance in the analysed blog sample. On Indymedia the proportion of articles without any resonance in the blog sample comprises up to two fifths (42 percent, n=266). Among the articles on both websites with incoming links from the blog sample the distribution of links is not equal. The follow-up communication in blogs is mainly focused on selected articles. This concentration can be explained by different thematic priorities. Bloggers favourably linked to articles which address or discuss the media’s coverage of the Heiligendamm summit. They also often linked to articles which highlight police violence against protestors. The top quintile of articles regarding the number of incoming Technorati blog reactions covers different main topics (Spiegel Online: Cramer’s V = 0.410, p