Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2011

Abstract

Social media sites in general are gaining more and more prominence. However, not as much attention has been paid to social news sites like Reddit and Digg, which allow users to re-publish and vote on the news articles they deem fit for their own consumption. This study used media framing as a theoretical guide to examine the nature of the top-ranked articles posted on Reddit and Digg. Content analysis was used to determine the generic and issue-specific frames common in the said articles (n = 454). Additionally, the study sought to determine the most debated frames on the two sites. Results indicate that the human interest frame was the most common generic frame followed by technology. Science and technology was the most common issue-specific frame. The most commonly debated generic frame was human interest while entertainment was the most commonly debated issue-specific frame. Technology and science and technology were the second most debated generic and issue-specific frames respectively.

Comments

Copyright of Southwestern Mass Communication Journal.

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