Scrolling News

Ofcom

Summary

In recent years, the online news landscape has changed beyond recognition, and yet these behaviours and attitudes are not widely understood. Our research for Ofcom used a combination of in-depth interviews and digital behaviour tracking methods to gain an unprecedented insight into online news use.

Detail

For most people, online news is now synonymous with mobile news, meaning that online news behaviours primarily consist of passive behaviours such as scrolling, tapping and swiping.

The use of social media as people’s main route to access news blurs the boundaries between news and the entertainment and social content it is presented alongside. These factors create difficulty in thinking critically when it came to the news, and accurately recognising and reporting online news consumption.