Internet Users’ Reasons and Motives for Online News Commenting
Abstract
This article examines users’ situational reasons and potential motives for leaving a comment on an online news item. In a 3-phase analysis, users’ background factors, such as gender and political standings, were considered. The analysis indicates that there are preferred reasons for commenting. These are connected to 6 identified motives (e.g., societal discussion). Furthermore, 7 related user types were determined and examined. Overall, users and their reasons and motives for commenting vary, and background factors, especially activity and political standings, might explain the differences.
Keywords
online news, online-news comments, user motives, user comments, online participation