Presented at: Future of Journalism 2011 Cardiff University, 8 – 9 September Authors: Alfred Hermida, Fred Fletcher, Darryl Korell, Donna Logan

1. Your Friend as Editor
The Shift to a Personalized Social News Stream
Alfred Hermida, Fred Fletcher, Darryl Korell, Donna Logan
Future of Journalism 2011
Cardiff University, 8 – 9 September

3. The networked audience
Marwick and boyd (2011)
Photo: Luc Legay http://www.flickr.com/photos/luc/

4. Sharing the news
Photo: Pricklebush http://www.flickr.com/photos/pricklebush/

5. Methodology
• Online survey of
1,682 Canadians
• 1,059 visit social
networking sites at
least monthly (63 per
cent)
• Conducted August
26-30, 2010
Photo: SeanHagen http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebelcan/

6. Percentage of social media users
Twitter updates: news 10
organization/journalist
Twitter updates: friends and family 18
Social networks: News 20
organization/journalist
Social networks: Friends and family 43
0 10 20 30 40 50
Social networks as news sources
(Internet users who visit social networking sites at least monthly; N = 1059)

7. Percentage of social media users
Exposed to more news and information 59
Find first-hand information about 63
important events
Keep up with news and views 71
Find out about social or community 76
events
0 20 40 60 80
The appeal of social news
(Internet users who visit social networking sites at least monthly; N = 1059)

8. Individual blogger
News / commentary website
International news website
News aggregator
Radio new website
TV news website
Newspaper website
0 20 40 60 80
Online news consumers High social media users
Medium social media users
News sources on a typical day

9. Attitudes to journalism
Use of social media in news reports Use of Twitter by journalists
32 36 26 39
32 34
Yes No Unsure Yes No Unsure

10. The social news consumer
• Importance of social
recommendation
• Preference for friends
rather than
professionals
• Editorial
disaggregation
Photo: Travis Jon Allison http://www.flickr.com/photos/whybesubtle/

11. The social news consumer
• Mix of traditional and
social sources
• Open to non-
traditional news
sources
• Canadians value
diversity in news
Photo: lotusutol http://www.flickr.com/photos/lotusutol/

12. Discussion
• Networked publics
• Reframing the news
• Shaping news flows
• Evolving relationship
between the media
and the audience
Photo: wouldleywonderworks http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/

13. Thank you
• alfred.hermida@ubc.ca
• @hermida
• New book out now
• All royalties go to Reporters Without Borders