Abstract
Platformization has been used to describe how platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, WhatsApp and TikTok have become increasingly important for how people communicate and access information, including news. But to what extent have news media systems in different countries become platformized? Using online survey data from 46 countries, we show that: (a) although over 90% of internet users use at least one social platform, there are large country differences in the proportion that use them to access news; and (b) large country difference in the proportion that still go directly to news websites and apps. Furthermore, we find (c) that country differences at least partly reflect path dependency, more specifically the historic strength of the newspaper market leading to lower levels of news platformization and continued high levels of direct access. These findings show how platformization varies in different parts of the world, provide a framework for capturing how it changes over time, and highlight the potential benefits of bringing together platform studies and comparative media systems research.
Twitter thread
New article with @rasmus_kleis comparing the level of news platformization across countries.
— Richard Fletcher (@richrdfletcher) July 20, 2023
We show that although almost all internet users in the 46 countries studied use social media, the proportion that use social media for news varies a lot.https://t.co/bUVLnYO3Yu