Social media and journalism: hybridity, convergence, changing relationship with the audience and fragmentation

This chapter identifies and analyses four key features of social media adoption in journalism: hybridity, convergence, fragmentation and changing relationship with the audience. By doing so it contributes to the debate about the extent and nature of the changes in the profession in the digital age. Using quantitative and qualitative data from an international comparative study, including Australia, Finland, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the US, the analysis illustrates how social media use is inherently diverse and how it has contributed to an increasing complexity of journalists' work. It also shows that social media adoption has led to greater individualisation in the profession where journalists' work is differentiated by a myriad of professional and individual characteristics. In addition, the chapter discusses methodological challenges in social media research.