Abstract

The study explores determinants of the prominence of public information sources in Twitter. Twitter users are conceptualized as the “gated” who play an active role in selecting and distributing news sources through their Twitter messages. Using Twitter data on the Israel-Gaza conflict, the study identifies three determinants that characterize information sources: whether they are produced by mainstream media, whether they are filtered through aggregator services, and the number of in-links to the source media generated by the online public.

Share

COinS
 

Choice of Information: A Study of Twitter News Sharing during the 2009 Israel-Gaza Conflict

The study explores determinants of the prominence of public information sources in Twitter. Twitter users are conceptualized as the “gated” who play an active role in selecting and distributing news sources through their Twitter messages. Using Twitter data on the Israel-Gaza conflict, the study identifies three determinants that characterize information sources: whether they are produced by mainstream media, whether they are filtered through aggregator services, and the number of in-links to the source media generated by the online public.