How `Social' are Social News Sites? Exploring the Motivations for Using Reddit.com

Bogers, Toine; Wernersen, Rasmus

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/47295 Copy

Description

Title

How `Social' are Social News Sites? Exploring the Motivations for Using Reddit.com

Author(s)

• Bogers, Toine
• Wernersen, Rasmus

Issue Date

2014-03-01

Keyword(s)

social news; motivation; social media; ReddIt; user participation

Abstract

Social news sites allow their users to submit and vote on online news stories, thereby bypassing the authority and power of traditional newspaper editors. In this paper we explore what motivates users of social news sites, such as Reddit, to participate in this collaborative editorial process. We present a tiered framework of motivational factors for participating on social news sites, based on a comprehensive literature review, drawn from fields like social media research, sociology, (social) psychology, and behavioral economics. We then validate this framework through a survey deployed on Reddit and use the results of this survey to focus the motivational framework for the social news domain. the recreational value of the information posted to Reddit, along with the powerful possibilities for customization appear to be the most powerful incentives for using Reddit. Perhaps surprisingly, the social aspect of social news sites is not a motivating factor for the majority of Reddit users. Influencing the placement and reception of news stories in their niche communities of interest is what draws people to sites such as Reddit.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2014 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

english

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/47295

DOI

https://doi.org/10.9776/14108

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 is held by the authors of individual items in the proceedings. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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