Evolving Media Landscape: The Power of Peer-to-peer Network
DURATION
January 2024 — Present
SKILLS
Generative Research | Social Impact | Social Innovation
ROLE
Social Impact Partner (Product Design)
TEAM
Sugandh Agrawal, Shubham Jumde, Karina Ruiz Garcia, Rhea Chandy
COMPANY
CNN International
CNN’s digital audience has rapidly increased
However, the majority of CNN's audience, even after the digitization, falls within the median age of 51 years.
The Changing Media Landscape
The audience is evolving,
so are its preferences
"Changes created by mobility, urbanization and suburbanization, employment and work structures, roles of women in society, family structures and interactions, family size, leisure time availability, and use patterns, media consumption and increasing reliance on technological means of communication have all played roles in changing lifestyles and affected news and information needs and preferences.”
— Robert G. Picard
The Role of Young Adults
"
I usually don’t look at the news because I feel like it’s too negative."
— Interviewee, 23 years old
A positive predictor of news consumption for 7+ years is if it starts before the age of
18 years.
Interest in politics develops during adolescence & stabilizes by the age of
20 years.
Adolescents are most susceptible to be interested in news before the age of
15 years.
News consumption at a younger age shows long-term engagement
"
I heard about [the news] on Instagram, my friends post about it."
— Interviewee, 24 years old
Despite avoiding the news, young adults are constantly
updated by peers from their wide-ranging network.
*More than 1 in 10 Americans reported often tuning out or actively avoiding the news.
The Peer-to-peer Network
"
More and more
young people
are using Tiktok’s
powerful algorithm
...real people on the app are synthesizing and delivering information, rather than faceless websites.
— Kalley Huang, New York Times, 2022
"
Balancing Bias
While social media algorithm is increasingly used to personalize content, getting news exclusively on social media has the potential to silo young audiences, create echo chambers, and filter bubbles.
The Role of Opinion Leaders
"
Fame has been democratized.
I did not start as a journalist. I started as more of an internet personality, which is increasingly how more and more journalists are getting their start.
— Taylor Lorenz, The Washington Post
"
The Role of Social Media
Assumption Hypotheses
Conducted workshops with 18 participants born between 1997 and 2009 in the US
Workshops
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Consulted with 5 Journalists, Media Literacy Advocates, and Opinion Leaders in the US
Expert Interviews
Literature Study and Contextual Inquiry on Media Literacy and Social Media Usage Patterns
Scientific Research
To validate our assumptions and gather further insights, we conducted a series of experiments.
Digital Dinner Table
"
Our family member in the group chat shared a video..."
— Interviewee, 21 years old
Discussing news in spaces for sharing news, like private channels, is part of social bonding and forming opinions.
Meanwhile, "softer topics" are preferred to preserve group harmony, allowing for selective engagement.
The Entertainment Factor
Young adults like having commentary about news topics as a way to form their opinions.
Social media's format enables the creation of an attention economy.
"
...it's easy to look at something that feels like serotonin, like a laugh instead."
— Interviewee, 26 years old
"
I tend to look a lot at social media to inform myself because I just like to see other people's reactions."
— Interviewee, 25 years old
The Relatability Factor
News related to family, community, and culture boosts engagement, as young adults focus more on news that resonates with their lives.
"
Umm, cause I don't really care, like, it's not affecting me so I won't keep reading it."
— Interviewee, 24 years old
Assumption Testing
Workshop
A 45-minute workshop session in which participants expressed their emotional responses to certain news pieces based on various prompts and questions and rate which traits of the content they value the most.
Diary Study
A week-long diary study recording participants expressing their emotional responses to news pieces on their Social Media feeds.
News Fatigue
"
We know that the traffic that goes to Instagram stays there."
— Journalist
Lack of Action
Young adults prefer less time on the news but enjoy diving into rabbit holes on topics they care about.
However, screening through the information influx causes fatigue.
Young adults become passive from news topics based on daunting issues.
Powerlessness and immobility cause disengagement.
01
Support the power of peer-to-peer networks
02
Leverage the positives of how opinion leaders present news
03
Contextualize news to reduce bias and negativity
HOW MIGHT WE
How might we harness the strengths of peer-to-peer networks and opinion leaders to effectively communicate news, while establishing more trust in media narratives and reducing fatigue?
The Opportunity Space
01
Promote discussion in digital spaces with media literacy
Harness the power of peer-to-peer networks and enhance these digital spaces to support and initiate discussions that promote media literacy.
02
Support diverse formats while preserving integrity
Leverage the positives of how opinion leaders and multi-format platforms present news to increase engagement without compromising integrity.
03
Personalize content while preserving credibility
Provide access to relatable and relevant news content while promoting diverse opinions with transparency of the credibility of sources.
04
Provide actionable follow-ups while reducing fatigue
Reduce friction while screening content, aid context formation, and provide actionable follow-ups on issues they care about.
"
It’s such a huge systemic issue. It's hard to create change if I'm alone."
— Interviewee, 21 years old
"
I just scroll past it with anger. I’ve given up."
— Interviewee, 22 years old
The Findings
01
Digital Dinner Table
02
The Entertainment Factor
03
The Relatability Factor
04
Fatigue and Lack of Action
Proposed Product Ecosystem
Model of Shared Incentives
