Analysis of media and audiences in social media facing information about suicide

 Ángeles Durán-Mañes, CESAG-University of Comillas (Spain)

 Francisco-Javier Paniagua-Rojano, University of Malaga (Spain)

 Francisco Fernández-Beltrán, University Jaume I (Spain)

https://doi.org/10.3916/C77-2023-10

Keywords

Social media, suicide, risks, online audiences, self-regulation, information quality

Abstract

Suicide had traditionally been silenced in the media until the beginning of the 21st century, when the World Health Organization (WHO) changed its recommendation not to report on it in order to disseminate this serious social problem and contribute to its prevention. Work has been done to define how and with what limits the media should report, but there are no codes dealing with social networks, which require specific treatment given their great capacity for influence. This research analyses the information on suicide published on social networks by the Spanish media with the greatest interaction on Twitter and the feedback from audiences, during the first six months of 2022, applying the different ethical codes and consulting the seven state organizations specialized in suicide. This work aims to examine the connection and interaction between the selected media and their audience in social networks, participation, the type of content created by the media and the exchange produced with their audiences. In the results, it is observed that the interaction of the audience regarding the different approaches of the media on Twitter on suicide is associated with the idea of sharing, commenting or bookmarking those messages related to prevention.

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Fundref

The present research is funded by the II Call for Pre-competitive Projects by CESAG-Comillas (2021).

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Technical information

Received: 02-02-2023

Revised: 18-03-2023

Accepted: 02-05-2023

OnlineFirst: 30-06-2023

Publication date: 01-10-2023

Article revision time: 44 days | Average time revision issue 77: 32 days

Article acceptance time: 89 days | Average time of acceptance issue 77: 76 days

Preprint editing time: 196 days | Average editing time preprint issue 77: 183 days

Article editing time: 241 days | Average editing time issue 77: 228 days

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