Investigating the impact of interactivity on the credibility of digital news media

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Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis

Date

2021-01-25

Department

Major/Subject

Human-Computer Interaction and Design

Mcode

SCI3020

Degree programme

Master's Programme in ICT Innovation

Language

en

Pages

56+3

Series

Abstract

Consuming news and defining its credibility play a large role in our everyday lives. The digitalisation of news has enabled new interactions with the medium, that have yet to be analysed in their impact on credibility. This study aims to investigate the effects interactivity has on perceived credibility and how user interactions can be applied to the digital news medium. The analysis is done through a user centric approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods based on design thinking. The methods used include a digital questionnaire, user interviews and prototype testing. Using these methods, we find that no strong association can be made between the frequency of use of specific digital interactions such as sharing, liking and commenting and perceived credibility. While most users see an added benefit in having more interactive elements on a digital platform, it cannot be concluded that overall higher levels of interactivity lead to higher credibility. However, if interactivity is used to enable people to voice their opinion an increase in trust can be built, which subsequently increases credibility.

Description

Supervisor

Pauletto, Sandra

Thesis advisor

Benigno Latupeirissa, Adrian

Keywords

news credibility, interactivity, news consumption, digital news

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Citation