Fifty-five percent of Americans have posted an online comment and 78 percent have read comments, according to a report released Monday at SXSW by the Engaging News Project out of the University of Texas at Austin. The report also suggests, however, that over half of Americans have never read news-related comments or commented anywhere (dedicated apps, social media, the news sites themselves) about the news. Fourteen percent have left any sort of comments on news stories:
Of those leaving news comments, the majority posted via social media (77.9 percent), and most (53 percent) posted on a monthly basis or even less frequently.
The report pulls out a few other findings about the demographics of news commenters:
— Compared to those who read news comments but did not themselves comment, those commenting on the news “tend[ed] to be more male, have lower levels of education, and have lower incomes.”
— Compared to those who posted comments on the news infrequently, those who posted comments on the news on a weekly basis (or even more frequently) were similarly “more male, have lower levels of education, and have lower incomes. They [were] are less white and more Hispanic.”
Respondents were asked why they left comments. Responses ran the gamut, but the top reason was “to express an emotion or an opinion,” followed by “adding information,” “correcting inaccuracies or misinformation,” and “taking part in the debate.” These responses varied based on the topic people commented on most frequently:— Those who commented most on U.S. politics did so to express an emotion or opinion, to take part in the debate, to educate others, and to balance the discussion, compared to those who commented most on stories about their neighborhood or community.
— Those who commented most frequently on news about their neighborhood or community were more likely to comment to share an experience, be part of the community, or show sympathy to others, compared to those who commented most on U.S. politics.
Not surprisingly, the report also found that those who avoided commenting on the news or avoided reading comments on the news felt that comment sections were uncivil and argumentative. But when it came to policing comment sections, the report found an even split between people who believed news organizations should remove offensive comments (42 percent) and those who believed comments constitute free speech (41.6 percent).The responses to the survey were collected between November and December 2015 by market research group GfK from a “representative sample” of Americans, with complete data from 1,471 respondents. The report breaks out a number of other tidbits around online news commenting, including whether commenters would like journalists/experts to weigh in on facts (yes) and whether they’d be willing to pay for comments (no). The full report is available here.
1,519 comments:
I must thank yoou for thе efforts yоu have рut in writing this site.
Ι rеally hope tto ѕee tһe same higһ-grade content Ьy
you in the future as well. In truth, yоur creative writing abilities һаs
inspired me to gеt my veгy oᴡn website now ;)
Tаke a look at my page; House-specific name generators
Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s really informative.
I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future.
A lot of people will be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you really know what you’re speaking
about! Bookmarked. Please additionally talk over with my web site
=). We will have a link exchange contract among us
It’s actually a great and helpful piece of information. I am happy that you shared this useful
information with us. Please keep us up to date like
this. Thank you for sharing.
We’re a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our entire community will be thankful to you.
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been doing a little homework on this.
And he actually bought me breakfast because I found it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But
yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this issue here on your web site.
I have read some good stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to make such a great informative website.
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and everything. However imagine if you added some great images or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and clips, this blog could definitely be one of the greatest in its field. Wonderful blog!
Very good info. Lucky me I came across your site
by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve book marked it for later!
buy viagra online
Hello.This post was really fascinating, particularly because I was looking for thoughts on this topic last Tuesday.
Excellent post. I used to be checking continuously this weblog and I’m inspired!
Very helpful info particularly the ultimate section :) I deal with such
information much. I used to be seeking this particular info for a very long time.
Thanks and good luck.
payday loan
Excellent blog here! Also your site loads up very fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate
link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
I go to ѕee daily ɑ few blogs аnd websites tо rad articles
оr reviews, howеver this weblog ρresents quality based articles.
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It
if truth be told used to be a leisure account it.
Look complex to far brought agreeable from you! By the way, how could we keep up
a correspondence?
What’s up, just wanted to tell you, I liked this post. It was practical.
Keep on posting!
My partner ɑnd I absoluteⅼy love ʏour blog and find moost off үour post’s to be exаctly I’m
looking fߋr. can yⲟu offer guest writers to ԝrite ϲontent for yourself?
I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating ߋn mɑny of
thе subjects you writе conceгning herе. Aɡain, awesome website!
Trackbacks:
Leave a comment