University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2014 Microbloggers’ motivations in participatory journalism: A cross- cultural study of America and China Jue Rui University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Journalism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Rui, Jue, "Microbloggers’ motivations in participatory journalism: A cross-cultural study of America and China. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2014. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2727 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jue Rui entitled "Microbloggers’ motivations in participatory journalism: A cross-cultural study of America and China." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Communication and Information. Norman R. Swan Jr., Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Elizabeth M. Hendrickson, Lane Morris, Candace L. White Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Microbloggers’ motivations in participatory journalism: A cross-cultural study of America and China A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jue Rui May 2014 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, a devoted educator and an exquisite woman; and my father, a role model and a fan of all my work. ii Acknowledgement If it hadn’t been for Professor Norman (Sam) Swan, I probably would not be here writing this dissertation or even be in the United States. For this, I am truly grateful. Sam is a person that changes lives. He embraces diversity and recognizes talents in many forms. He is my mentor, my colleague and more importantly, a lifelong friend. He not only helped me through my academic career as a researcher, but also taught me many things about life. I want to thank my husband Harrison Huaqing Pang. He has been my biggest fan and supporter for almost 10 years. Since we met in college, life has given us ups and downs. He pushed, pulled, and protected me through them all and we prevailed as a couple. He made me the woman I am today and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him building our American dream together. I also want to thank all my committee members: Professor Hendrickson, Professor Morris, and Professor White. I have learned so much from them in the classroom and through daily interactions with them. They each helped tremendously with my dissertation from forming the idea to executing the research to laying it down on paper. Last but not least, I want to thank the University of Tennessee for providing me with an opportunity to pursue graduate degrees here and making Knoxville my home away from home. iii Abstract This phenomenological study focuses on the motivations of participatory journalists contributing on microblogs such as Twitter and Weibo. Although online user behavior and motivations have been studied before, few studies have examined motivations of participatory journalists from their own perspective. Moreover, this study is one of the few to explore participatory journalists across different cultures (U.S. and China). The author conducted a total of 13 in-depth interviews with participatory journalists on microblogs from both countries and used a qualitative analysis method to identify the themes and patterns that emerged. Motivations such as earning respect, technology early adoption, self-expression, relationship building, self-enhancement, branding and image building, and financial gain were discussed. De-motivational factors such as time constraints and self-censorship were presented. Motivational differences between the two groups of participants, including what the microblog account represents and the role of participatory journalists, were explained by cultural differences collectivism versus individualism and power distance. Limitations and future research were also discussed. Keywords: phenomenology, participatory journalism, microblog, motivation, cross culture, Twitter, Weibo iv Table of Contents Chapter I Introduction………………………………………………………………….1 Microblogs Defined: Twitter and Weibo………………………………………….2 Information Dissemination on Microblogs………………………………………..5 Microblogs’ Impact on Professional Journalism………..………………………..8 Participatory Journalism (PJ) on Microblog.……………………………………10 China Perspective………………………………………………………………..13 Purpose and Significance of the Study.………………………………………..14 Structure of the Following Chapters……………………………………………..17 Chapter II Literature Review………………………………………………………….18 Participatory Journalism (PJ)……………………………………………………18 Participatory Journalism and Convergence Culture……………………………..20 Motivation Research……………………………………………………………..24 o Field of Social Psychology………………………………………………24 o Field of Media Research…………………………………………………27 o User Generated Content (UGC) and Motivations…………………..30 o Motivations from Journalists’ Roles Perspective……………………...31 o Twitter and User Motivations………………………………………….33 Weibo Studies in China………………………………………………………….37 Motivation and Culture………………………………………….…………..…40 o Hofstede’s 5-Dimensions Model……………………………….………..41 Summary…………………………………………………………………………51 v Chapter III Methods……………………………………………………………………53 Establishing Equivalences……………………………………………..……….55 Participants…………………………………………….…………………………57 Semi-Structured Interview…………………………….…………………………62 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………….63 Chapter IV Findings……………………………………………………………………66 Demographic Information………………………………………………………..67 Time Spent on Microblogs……………………………………………………….69 Motivations to Get Started……………………………………………………….72 o Curiosity………………………………………………………………….72 o Sense of Belonging………………………………………………………73 o Observation and Prior Research………………………………………….74 o Technology………………………………………………………………77 o Association with Organizations………………………………………….78 Motivations to Continue…………………………………………………………79 o Number of Followers…………………………………………………….79 o Interest……………………………………………………………………81 o Earning Respect…………………………………………………….……82 o Self-Expression…………………………………………………………..85 o Self-Enhancement and Career Advancement……………………………87 o Interaction with Audience………………………………………………..88 o Branding………………………………………………………………….91 o Social Impact…………………………………………………………….92 Frustrating Moments…………………………………………………………….94 vi o Censorship……………………………………………………………….94 o Time Constraints…………………………………………………………97 o Unique Experience……………………………………………………….98 Chapter Summary………………………………………………………………..99 Chapter V Discussions, Limitations, and Future Research……………………….100 External Motivations……………………………………………………………101 o Early Adopters of a New Technology………………………………….102 o Economic Motivations………………………………………………...104 . Branding and Image Building…………………………………104 . Financial Compensation…………………………………….…105 Internal Motivations…………………………………………………………….108 o Observation of Success………………………………………...……….108 o Hobby Becomes Habit…………………………...…………..…………111 o Professional Recognition………………………………………...……..113 o Reinforcement of Identity………………………………………………114 o Self-Expression…………………………………………………………116 o Self-Enhancement and Education……………………………...……….118 o Social Networking: Building Strong Bonds on Microblogs……………119 De-Motivating Factors…………………………………………………….……123 o Time Constraints………………………………………………………..123 o Self-Censorship…………………………………………………………125 Differences Observed………………………………………………………...…127 o Who the Account Represents: Individual or Organization ………….…127 . Self-Branding Versus Organizational Image Building…………131 vii o Journalists’ Roles: Power Distance………………………………...…134 Discussion Summary………………………………………………………...…139 Limitations and Future Research………………………….……………………141 o Limitations……………………………….……………………………..141 o Future Research………………………………………….……………..144 o From Motivation to the Future of Professional Journalism…………….145 References…………………………………………………………………………..….146 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………..…172 Interview Guide………………………………………………………………173 Vita…………………………………………………………………………………….174 viii List of Figures Figure 1 Home Page of a Twitter Account………………………………………………5 Figure 2 Maslow Hierarchy of Needs……………………………………………………25 Figure 3 Cultural Index Comparisons between China and US........................................42 Figure 4 Cultural Index Comparisons Among China, US, and United Kingdom……...47 Figure 5 A tweet sent by Hypervocal account……………………………………….61 ix CHAPTER I Introduction In recent years, social media applications such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter have attracted many researchers’ attention. Opportunities these platforms provide for user interactions and information dissemination were found to be useful in many professional fields such as marketing, advertising and journalism. Professional journalists started to use information on microblogs as sources in their stories or frequently visit the microblogging sites