Shedding light on the dark social: The connective role of news and journalism in social media communities

TLDR

Messaging apps and Facebook groups increasingly shape everyday communication and public orientation, and dark social media serve as key public‑connection spaces that bridge private worlds with broader society. This article examines how users perceive news on dark social media, specifically the roles news plays in social networks that depend on these platforms. Using focus groups drawn from local, work, and leisure communities, the study investigates inclusiveness, engagement, relevance, and constructiveness of news sharing, arguing that platform use is fundamentally a social practice. The perceived value of news on dark social media depends on the control and privacy it affords, while community type is less important than the group’s communicative aims.

Abstract

Messaging apps and Facebook groups are increasingly significant in everyday life, shaping not only interpersonal communication but also how people orient themselves to public life. These “dark social media” are important spaces for “public connection,” a means for bridging people’s private worlds and everything beyond. This article analyzes how people perceive news on such platforms, focusing on the different roles it plays in key social networks that rely on dark social media for communication. Arguing that the use of these platforms is foremost a social practice, the study employs focus groups with local, work, and leisure-related communities to investigate questions of inclusiveness, engagement, relevance, and constructiveness associated with sharing and discussing news. We find the perceived value of news on dark social media hinges on the control and privacy it provides. Community type was less significant than communicative aims of the group for shaping the uptake of news and journalism.