Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System
Extending research on technological affordances and user practices, this article treats social media as a system comprised of differentiated yet interconnected platforms and shaped by users’ information sharing practices. Specifically, hyperlinks — generated through cross-platform and cross-media i...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
HOPE
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journalqd.org/article/view/5984 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849764884007354368 |
|---|---|
| author | Yini Zhang Jiyoun Suk Dongdong Yang Zhiying Yue Rui Wang Xinxia Dong Zijian An Kenneth Joseph |
| author_facet | Yini Zhang Jiyoun Suk Dongdong Yang Zhiying Yue Rui Wang Xinxia Dong Zijian An Kenneth Joseph |
| author_sort | Yini Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Extending research on technological affordances and user practices, this article treats social media as a system comprised of differentiated yet interconnected platforms and shaped by users’ information sharing practices. Specifically, hyperlinks — generated through cross-platform and cross-media information sharing — facilitate information diffusion and reveal major connectors in the social media system. Analyzing the linking patterns of 186 platforms with two large-scale datasets on prominent social and political issues in the U.S., we find the leading role of cross-media sharing, with center-left and right-wing news outlets serving as major pathways of system-wide information flow. Also, YouTube and Twitter emerge as hubs in the social media system via cross-platform sharing. Integrating established theoretical perspectives and providing robust quantitative descriptions, this study advances social media research and introduces a system-of-information perspective for addressing social-media-related communication challenges.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a0f9daccc55a4bcfbb1b4143483dbab8 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2673-8813 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | HOPE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |
| spelling | doaj-art-a0f9daccc55a4bcfbb1b4143483dbab82025-08-20T03:05:01ZengHOPEJournal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media2673-88132025-04-01510.51685/jqd.2025.007Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media SystemYini Zhang0Jiyoun Suk1Dongdong Yang2Zhiying Yue3Rui Wang4Xinxia Dong5Zijian An6Kenneth Joseph7University at BuffaloUniversity of ConnecticutMontclair State UniversityBoston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical SchoolUniversity at BuffaloShanghai UniversityMetaUniversity at Buffalo Extending research on technological affordances and user practices, this article treats social media as a system comprised of differentiated yet interconnected platforms and shaped by users’ information sharing practices. Specifically, hyperlinks — generated through cross-platform and cross-media information sharing — facilitate information diffusion and reveal major connectors in the social media system. Analyzing the linking patterns of 186 platforms with two large-scale datasets on prominent social and political issues in the U.S., we find the leading role of cross-media sharing, with center-left and right-wing news outlets serving as major pathways of system-wide information flow. Also, YouTube and Twitter emerge as hubs in the social media system via cross-platform sharing. Integrating established theoretical perspectives and providing robust quantitative descriptions, this study advances social media research and introduces a system-of-information perspective for addressing social-media-related communication challenges. https://journalqd.org/article/view/5984social mediainformation sharinginformation flowcross-platformcross-mediahyperlinks |
| spellingShingle | Yini Zhang Jiyoun Suk Dongdong Yang Zhiying Yue Rui Wang Xinxia Dong Zijian An Kenneth Joseph Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media social media information sharing information flow cross-platform cross-media hyperlinks |
| title | Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System |
| title_full | Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System |
| title_fullStr | Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System |
| title_short | Center-Left and Right-Wing News, YouTube, and Twitter as Key Connectors in the Social Media System |
| title_sort | center left and right wing news youtube and twitter as key connectors in the social media system |
| topic | social media information sharing information flow cross-platform cross-media hyperlinks |
| url | https://journalqd.org/article/view/5984 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yinizhang centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT jiyounsuk centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT dongdongyang centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT zhiyingyue centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT ruiwang centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT xinxiadong centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT zijianan centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem AT kennethjoseph centerleftandrightwingnewsyoutubeandtwitteraskeyconnectorsinthesocialmediasystem |