The dark side of news consumption:
A systematic review on private messaging networks studies and journalism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51698/tripodos.2025.57.02Keywords:
journalism, mobile instant messaging, news consumption, systematic review, WhatsApp, mensajería móvil instantánea, periodismo, consumo de noticias, revisión sistemáticaAbstract
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of news sharing through private messaging apps. This shift presents significant challenges for journalism, particularly in terms of media trust and news dissemination. Despite the importance of studying the role of private messaging apps in shaping public opinion, there is a lack of systematic approaches. After a scientific literature review including terms such as “WhatsApp”, “Telegram”, and “mesospaces”, content and thematic analyses were carried out to identify research methods and topics. A total of 61 documents was retrieved in late 2022, 53 of which are articles in WoS journals. Results shed light on
the most common practices, and while WhatsApp remains the most studied platform, paradoxically, it is still in the experimental stage. While the use of private messaging apps for news reception may be considered a private activity, the findings suggest that this private reception does not necessarily equate to individual or isolated consumption. The results have implications for stages such as news gathering and production, while also revealing subtopics in research on these platforms, such as the need for new digital literacies, trust as a primary casualty of disinformation, and some community practices. This approach underlines the need for transnational
studies to identify common practices in the use of these technologies that are not solely driven by the particular context of a country.
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En los últimos años, ha habido una creciente tendencia de compartir noticias a través de aplicaciones de mensajería privada. Este cambio presenta desafíos significativos para el periodismo en términos de confianza en los medios y difusión de noticias. A pesar de la importancia de la investigación sobre mensajería privada y periodismo en la construcción de la opinión pública, faltan enfoques sistemáticos. Tras una revisión de literatura científica que incluyó términos como “WhatsApp”, “Telegram” y “mesoespacios”, se realizaron análisis de contenido y temáticos para identificar métodos y temas de investigación. Se recuperaron 61 documentos en 2022, de los cuales 53 son artículos en revistas WoS. Los resultados arrojan luz sobre las prácticas más comunes y, aunque WhatsApp sigue siendo la plataforma más estudiada, paradójicamente aún se usa de modo experimental. Si bien el uso de aplicaciones de mensajería privada para la recepción de noticias puede considerarse una actividad privada, los hallazgos sugieren que esta recepción privada no necesariamente equivale a un consumo individual o aislado. Las implicaciones de los resultados se relacionan con la recopilación y producción de noticias, pero también surgen subtemas como la necesidad de nuevas alfabetizaciones digitales, la confianza como primera víctima de la desinformación y algunas prácticas comunitarias. Este enfoque subraya la necesidad de estudios transnacionales para identificar prácticas comunes con estas tecnologías que no estén únicamente impulsadas por el contexto particular de un país.
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