City Research Online

Abstract

The development of interactive, networked, digital communication allowed news to be personalized to individual users at scale and with unprecedented speed and efficiency. From modest beginnings in the pre-Web era, news personalization has increased in volume, sophistication, and reach, not least because of social networks, in particular Facebook. This increase has prompted a mixture of reactions, some optimistic about the effects on individuals and society, and others less so. Some research indicates that we have not—yet—become especially enclosed within echo chambers or filter bubbles that isolate us from alternative viewpoints and common experiences. However, concerns persist, especially about the content curation role of social networks with their increasingly user-centric personalization algorithms. It may be that traditional news providers, more so than social networks, will provide—within an increasingly personalized information environment—the common set of experiences and exposure to challenging viewpoints required in well functioning systems of free expression.

Publication Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following chapter: Thurman, N. (2018). Personalization of News. In: T. P. Vos & F. Hanusch (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies. Massachusetts, USA: Wiley-Blackwell, which is published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118841570.iejs0052. This chapter may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Publisher Keywords:	customization; echo chambers; filter bubbles; fragmentation; personalization; recommender systems; selective exposure; user profiling
Subjects:	P Language and Literature
Departments:	School of Communication & Creativity > Journalism

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