Beyond 140 Characters: The Forces that Shape Journalists’ Strategic Twitter Engagement

This project investigates the strategic Twitter engagement of political journalists and the corresponding dynamics of newsroom strategies, individual behavior, and the changing conditions of different news climates and socio-political environments. Findings show journalists’ individual approaches to and skills of tweeting vary and range across a broad spectrum, from submitting to the mandates of organizational social media policies, to feeling competitive pressures and “fear of missing out,” or making substantive investments into Twitter because the platform is viewed as a potential career asset in an unstable labor market.

Project lead: Svenja Ottovordemgentschenfelde