Abstract
Adolescents’ sharing of digital news is an increasingly significant issue within the field of digital citizenship and accessing and using digital information has increasingly been shown to affect their lives and futures. This study seeks to understand the impact of how young people engage with news-related communication and news literacy education on their news consumption and civic
engagement by examining the differences in the significance of factors between adolescent and adult groups. A secondary data analysis was conducted using national survey datasets on youth news media use (13 to 18 years old, N=1,665) and Korean news media use (18 to 60 years old, N=3,799). This study reveals that news access via social media is positively correlated with news engagement (commenting and sharing) regardless of age cohorts. However, significant generational gaps in the mediums, which determine the influence of social news use on news commenting and sharing practices, are observed in our regression models. For adolescents, news literacy education is positively related to the increased participation in online public discussions, whereas it increases news sharing on different platforms for adults. Civic engagement is positively associated with news engagement online among adolescents suggesting that those who share news and have news literacy experience are more likely to engage with social and political issues. This study reaffirms the path from news use to news engagement, and the paths from news engagement to civic engagement. Also, the mediums for social news are important to increasing civic engagement. Our results highlight the significance of social news engagement and its impacts on political socialization among adolescents.
engagement by examining the differences in the significance of factors between adolescent and adult groups. A secondary data analysis was conducted using national survey datasets on youth news media use (13 to 18 years old, N=1,665) and Korean news media use (18 to 60 years old, N=3,799). This study reveals that news access via social media is positively correlated with news engagement (commenting and sharing) regardless of age cohorts. However, significant generational gaps in the mediums, which determine the influence of social news use on news commenting and sharing practices, are observed in our regression models. For adolescents, news literacy education is positively related to the increased participation in online public discussions, whereas it increases news sharing on different platforms for adults. Civic engagement is positively associated with news engagement online among adolescents suggesting that those who share news and have news literacy experience are more likely to engage with social and political issues. This study reaffirms the path from news use to news engagement, and the paths from news engagement to civic engagement. Also, the mediums for social news are important to increasing civic engagement. Our results highlight the significance of social news engagement and its impacts on political socialization among adolescents.
| Translated title of the contribution | Social News Use and News Engagement on Civic Engagement |
|---|---|
| Original language | Undefined |
| Pages (from-to) | 5-35 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Journal | Korean Journal of Journalism Communication Studies |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2021 |