Abstract of the 2021 winning paper is posted below.
First Place Winners
Change is the only constant: Young adults as platform architects and the consequences for news • Kjerstin Thorson and Ava Francesca Battocchio, Michigan State University
Abstract: Change is the only constant: Young adults as platform architects and the consequences for news • We examine digital platform repertoires for news among young adults. Through the lens of “digital labor,” we explore the work that young adults’ undertake to design and maintain their personal media systems, and the consequences of those practices for news use. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with 18-34-year-olds, including a shared reading of participants’ newsfeeds in their top three social media platforms, we develop the theoretical concept of personal platform architecture. Our findings suggest that young adults architect and maintain platform repertoires for sociality, personal interests, and emotional well-being rather than for information—but with substantial consequences for news.
